The Wanderer
by I dont want a name 51
Summary: Percy Jackson’s whole world is flipped upside down one day when coming back to camp. What happens when our hero ventures out into the world by himself? What will he do when the gods need him once more? Post HOO. No ToA.
1. Chapter1

**Some basic knowledge needed for new readers:**

**1.No pairing/ship **

**2\. Trials of Apollo never happens**

**_3\. _Any and all questions I receive in reviews are _always _answered at the bottom of the chapters - no matter how simple they may be, if you are confused make sure to look down there. If you still don't know what's going on then idk what else I could do for you.**

**POST STORY DISCLAIMER: first two chapters are fillers and the story starts off in smaller chapters; they get longer and the writing gets exponentially better later in the story.**

_2 Years after the Second Giant War_

(Percy's POV)

Good gods, that took way longer than it was supposed to. Annabeth is going to kill me when I get back, I've been stuck on this stupid quest for Aphrodite for weeks; trying to find the Nemean Lion. You would think that finding a two ton lion the size of a garbage truck wouldn't be hard but you would be surprised. The worst part about it was killing the damn thing. Apparently Aphrodite wants the pelt as a house decoration, and stabbing it in the mouth could 'ruin the quality of the fur'. So I had to take one out of Heracles' playbook and strangle it, which was like trying to ride a drunk Minotaur. Strangely enough it turned into an actual pelt this time, not a duster like when Zoë killed it in the museum. Now, walking out of JFK airport (Zeus finally got his lightning bolt out of his ass and let me take a plane), Nemean Lion pelt in my hands, there's nothing more in the world that I want than a good night's sleep, a shower, and maybe a cookie. Sadly, the quest comes first. I did a loud taxicab whistle, and not even five minutes later a dark shape appears in the sky. '_Another job well done boss?'_

"No Blackjack, I just decided to take a 5 week vacation and grab a Nemean Lions Pelt from the Home Depot on 23rd street." I replied, while hopping on to Blackjack's back.

_'Well you don't have to be so snappy about it boss.'_

"Just get us to Olympus buddy. And stop calling me boss." The rest of the ride was silent; strangely enough. Which gave me time to think over the events of the past year, which has been quest, after quest, after quest.

When I used my wish from the Giant War to allow the gods to talk to their children and other Demigods more, I didn't think they'd start letting Demigods 'prove themselves' more often, sending them on quests more often than talking to them. However, after the first camper failed (and many more severely injured), the gods started giving them to people who had experience in questing; in other words: me. Which I don't know if I should be thankful or annoyed. Thankful that the gods aren't sending children to their deaths. Or annoyed that I don't get to spend more time with Annabeth, helping her with getting through Tartarus. Thankfully Demigod brains are physically incapable of having PTSD, but that doesn't mean that sometimes a painful memory won't pop up. Another big positive was actually Dionysus curing my brain of any 'lingering madnes or insanity', whatever that means, although Annabeth would never let him help. Her pride won't let her admit that she needs help.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Blackjack did a nose dive, scaring the schist out of me, and landed infront of Aphrodite's palace. I nearly gagged when I smelled the perfume coming off it. After saying goodbye to Blackjack, I took probably the last deep breath of non intoxicated air I would get for a while and knocked on Aphrodite's palace door.

After about 5 minutes of waiting, a puffy eyed goddess opened the door, who looked like she was about to have a panick attack when she saw me. She seemed to calm herself after a minute or two and just looked at me sadly, "Keep the pelt Perseus, you deserve it after the 5 weeks." And proceeded to shut the door in my face. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. She just let me keep the pelt, no arguement whatsoever, no 'I expect a sacrifice everyday for 1000 years for my generosity'. Nothing. And then she slams the door in my face.

I just shook my head and sighed. Gods. You never know what to expect with them. I threw the pelt on and tied it using the lion's paws, and a plan worthy of Athena came to mind: I could use this for some epic pranks at camp. Besides it'll make any new quests I'm bound to get about a million times easier, but that's just a small bonus. I decided to go check on the throne room, hopefully my dad will be there. If not I can always talk to Hestia; she's usually there or Camp-Halfblood

Besides, what could go wrong with barging into the throne room of the same gods that have tried to kill you plenty of times for living? Best case scenario Hestia has some cookies. Worst case scenario, Zeus throws his master bolt at me, killing me instantly. I see this as a win-win.

On my way to the throne room, I started looking around and fully taking in the new architecture, recognizing a statue every now and then that Annabeth would show me in her designs. After what my ADHD brain made out to be forever, I made it to the throne room doors. If there's anything good these quests did for me, it was get me into shape. Two years ago, I would've struggled to pull open the newly installed 25ft tall doors, which are made up of a plethora of jewels and reinforced by imperial gold. Apparently they were needed so they didn't keep breaking the door when entering at their godly height. What they didn't consider was how the Demigods would open the doors. Now, thank the gods, I was strong enough to pull them open without breaking too much of a sweat.

The throne room was relatively empty, with only Zeus and Hestia in it, who seemed to be arguing in hushed tones, which immediately halted when they saw me walk in. Zeus decided to cut the silence, "Ah nephew, I was wondering when you would be coming back. We were just talking about you."

Slightly shocked at the kind tone Zeus was using I replied warily, "Uh, thank you Lord Zeus, what exactly was it you were talking about?"

"Oh nothing bad Perseus, just discussing a reward that _should_ be given for all the quests you've completed," Hestia reassures me.

"It would seem that young Perseus already got a reward in the Nemean Lions pelt, I don't see why that can't be it." Zeus argues back with Hestia, earning a glare in response.

"That was a spoils for killing the lion, not a reward for the hundreds of quests he's done," Hestia argues back, "and don't you dare refuse this Perseus Jackson. You're getting a reward, you should not be used as the gods' quest toy and get nothing in return." I just gulped and nodded in return, Hestia can be scary sometimes.

"Yes but does it have to be _that_ particular reward? The weapon should not be given to anyone." Now I was curious. What weapon?

"You know that only someone that is worthy to use it could take it from my Hearth. Why do you think _he_ was weaponless when you came back from fighting Typhoon?" I mentally groaned at the mention of being worthy. To gods, being worthy translates to: 'go do some impossible quest and maybe I'll let you do it'.

Zeus just sighed and said, "Fine. Perseus walk up to the Hearth and try to take the weapon."

"Uh Lord Zeus, what weapon exactly?"

"Kronos's Scythe of course, what other weapon would be in the Hearth? If you can take it, we'll talk about your other reward. If not, it's less of a headache I'll be getting later.

**Well there's chapter one, not really a cliffhanger but at least I tried. **


	2. Chapter2

**Here's chapter 2, enjoy :D**

_Still Percy's POV_

I was dumbfounded. Shocked. Flabbergasted. Bamboozled. And (ironically enough) thunderstruck. Zeus, the same Zeus that has called for my death because I was too powerful hundreds of time, is allowing me to attempt to take one of the deadliest weapons in the history of the gods. I half expected him to just start laughing and throw his master bolt at me while saying 'April Fools'.

Zeus coughed and I realized I've been staring at him with my mouth wide open for the past few minutes. When I looked to Hestia she just had a smile on her face, as if she knew something I didn't.

I had my doubts about this whole ordeal. For one the scythe is in the Hearth, those flames can be pretty damn hot when Hestia wants them to be. Two, it's a scythe. I have no idea how to use one, I've only ever bothered training with Riptide and or sparring spear on spear with Thalia when the hunters visit camp every now and then. Usually I would win, somehow, most of the time it's probably due to luck or me having more field experience than her, but in pure skill? Thalia would win hands down. I might give her a run for her money but she literally sleeps with her spear in hand.

Ugh stupid ADHD. Get the scythe first, mentally debate about spears later. Looking back to the Hearth, I finally realized, nothing could go wrong. Hestia is a peaceful goddess, she wouldn't suggest this if she thought I would get hurt. Calming my nerves, I walked towards the Hearth, away from Zeus' throne and towards the center of the throne room.

I reached the Hearth and suddenly all doubts of this ever going bad cleared my mind - thank you Hearth magic. I got down onto a knee and look into the fire, and there it was, under a bunch of coals and burning logs. I took a deep breath, thrust my hand into the flames and...

Nothing happened. Well that was anti-climatic. I could hear Hestia snickering in the back; damn goddess. She knew it wouldn't burn me. Feeling a lot more confident, I reached in deeper and grabbed the scythe, in all of it's terrifying, half adamantine half celestial bronze glory.

When I pulled the scythe out, it started glowing so brightly I couldn't look at it. When the glow died down, I let out a small gasp. Instead of the terrifying scythe that Kronos once wielded, there was now a slightly less terrifying spear that apparently I will wield. Huh. How convienient.

I was still staring at it in awe when Hestia spoke up, " As you can see Perseus, we decided that a scythe wasn't really your style," so that's why it changed, " instead, we've decided that a spear would be a better choice, as you already have a sword. The spear will have all the same properties at the scythe once did, being able to 'rip ones' soul out of their body', pierce nearly anything, and kill immortals."

A sound that sounded strangely between a choke and a cat coughing up a hair ball erupted from Zeus' throat at the mention of the last part, "It can do what!? Sister this cannot be allowed!"

Hestia for her part kept her cool and replied, "Oh hush Zeus, you know how the rule works, you have to kill them three times before there's even a chance of them fading."

Zeus just humphed, and looked like he was going to argue more until he saw the stern look Hestia was giving him. Reluctantly he nodded his head in acceptance. Meanwhile I've been shocked for what seemed like the millionth time today. I think Tyche decided to repay me for helping her kid get to camp on the way back from my quest for Apollo two months ago. Maybe I should go and buy a lottery ticket and push however far this luck is going. I was getting ready to leave when Zeus stopped me, "One last thing Perseus."

I just nodded and looked on as he threw a lightning bolt into the sky, no doubt summoning someone. Not two minutes later, a silver flash appeared in the room with Artemis in company. Now I was really confused, is my reward to be castrated? I looked to Hestia for any type of support of what's going on but she just looked at me and winked from her throne. Great. Real helpful.

Zeus and Artemis for the matter looked to be going through some mental conversation. Artemis' face, didn't help with my confusion one bit. She looked angry, confused, passive, back to angry, confused again, and a whole bunch of emotions that I couldn't describe until she finally nodded.

Without saying a word or even doing anything that would acknowledge that she saw me besides a simple nod, she raised her bow and chanted in a language older than Ancient Greek, until a soft silver glow descended upon me.

If you asked me again to describe what I felt like, I would never be able to tell you again. It was like someone had crammed every single piece of knowledge about hunting, wilderness, and survival into my head at once, then I felt as if time around me seemed to stop.

I recalled what Thalia had said when she first became a hunter, is this what she felt like? Good gods I will never doubt that lady again, that was pretty spot on. Unfortunately Thalia also mentioned some knowledge on using a bow that I apparently missed out on, but I couldn't complain. I was just given a spear that could reap someone's soul, partial immortality, and Artemis's blessing, I don't think improving my physics breaking archery skills was a top priority for the gods.

After a quick bow to the gods, I left before Zeus decided to change his mind. I was walking towards the elevator to get off Olympus and finally go home when I passed a fountain and an idea came to me. I should probably use this as an excuse to talk to my dad. When my wish for Demigods to be able to talk to their parents was granted, the first thing Poseidon did was take me down to Atlantis for two weeks for some Father/Son bonding. During those weeks we talked nonstop, learning everything there was to learn about each other and giving him the paternal role he always wanted to my life.

I quickly made a mist in the fountain and tossed two drachmas in, one for Fleecy and one for Iris, "O' Fleecy do me a solid, show me Poseidon, probably in Atlantis," my dad soon appeared with a confused look on his face.

"Perseus? Is that you?"

I was completely confused as to why he didn't recognize me until I remembered; the Nemean Lion pelt. I should probably take that off before I get in a cab. I quickly took the hood off and responded, " yeah it is. You would never guess what happened when I got back from my quest for Aphrodite."

Poseidon for his part just frowned, "I thought that quest was a joke. Did she seriously make you kill it with your hands?" I nodded and he made a motion for me to continue, so I did. I explained to him the events of the day, with Aphrodite letting me keep the pelt, Zeus letting me take Kronos' Scythe, which apparently is called Ο χρόνος είναι ο Μάρτιος, or _'Time's March'_, according to the engraving on the shaft of the weapon. During my explanation I finally got a better look at the weapon, it was a basic war spear, with the mix of adamantine and celestial bronze mostly in the spear head, the shaft of the spear was made up of a dark wood, further reinforced by the two metals.

When I finished with the details of my day, Poseidon looked deep in thought before he smiled, "Well my boy, I would say I'm suprised but I don't think anything you do could surprise me anymore. Meet me by the elevator on Olympus, I would like to take your spear to Briares so he could make some improvements."

I just nodded and agreed to talk later and started off in the direction of the elevator. While going there I started wondering, what could he possibly do to improve the spear? Give it a laser gun mode like George and Martha? A trident mode? All different kinds of possibilities were running through my head while I walked towards the elevators. I was snapped out of my thoughts my dad whistled and started walking towards me.

"Alright son, off to Atlantis."

…

_Atlantis, June 17th, 1:32 PM_

Today was the day. Today was the day Briares said he would be done making improvements to my spear. I don't know what he was planning, but I remember seeing Hecate every now and then, walking in and out of Briares' forge, which made me even more curious.

Oh how I wish to be able to I.M Annabeth. The only reason I haven't by now was because my father 'doesn't want his waters tainted by Athena or her spawn.' It doesn't help that Athena sends me on more quests than anybody, which hasn't made my father any happier with her. Thankfully though he doesn't mind me dating Annabeth because in his words, 'if you're happy then I'm happy.'

Over the years, my relationship with Triton and Amphirite has increased exponentially, with both of them welcoming me in Atlantis with open arms. Triton became my regular sparring partner, while Amphirite became like a mother to me, treating me the same way she treats Triton.

I was walking through my father's palace, trying to find where his game room was when I heard the inmistakable swishing sound of a dolphin moving. I turned around to see my Father's messenger and lieutenant , Delphin, god of dolphins.

"Ah there you are Perseus, I was looking for you, your father said that Briares has finished your weapon and is waiting for you in his forge." I thanked the god of dolphins and went on my way to the forge, my curiosity and excitement making me half sprint there.

When I arrived I was greeted by Briares, who insisted I shake all of his hundred hands and my father who gave me a hug.

Briares, who looked just as excited as me, said, " With the help of Hecate, we were able to further upgrade the spear. The spear will only rip out one's soul if you will it to, leaving you to still be to use it without injuring anyone on accident. Hecate enchanted it so the shaft of the spear will be near unbreakable, she further enchanted it so it will come to your hand with barely a thought. There's only one small step left."

Apparently I looked as confused as I felt because Briares gave out a small chuckle, "Nothing to fear my friend, we just need your blood to bind it to you and you only, can have just anyone running around with the Titan Lord's former weapon can we?" Nothing to worry about, just a blood binding, nothing weird or demonic about that. Nope. Not at all. Good gods let this be fast.

…

_Atlantis, June 17, 9:41 PM_

By all of the gods, major and minor, if Briares doesn't finish soon I'll take all of his hundred hands shove them wher-

"Good news Perseus! I was able to finish the bonding early. Come test it out," an elated Briares screamed across the room.

I grumbled a little and walked out of the forge to where we had set up a few dummies and targets. Briares was waiting by some of the dummies, using four hands to lean on the spear while six were being used to keep it upright. When he saw me he beckoned me over and walked towards the targets.

"Now Perseus, we shall test the spear's ability to come back to the user," he said while handing me the spear. When I first grabbed the spear again, it made a humming sound, as if it was satisfied with who was wielding it and I felt an energy rush, as if somebody injected 5-hour energy directly into my veins.

…

I spent the rest of the night testing the new and old enchantments, though Briares wouldn't let me test the ability to activate searing someone's soul, which I probably won't use anyways - unless he makes me wait eight hours again. At that point I might have to give it a test run.

Tomorrow is the day I'd be returning to camp, hopefully Annabeth wouldn't kill me for being gone so long.

**Well there you have it, the plot has been set, the pieces are in place, let the actual story begin.**


	3. Chapter3

**So here it is, chapter 3. Might be good, might be horrible, you knew what you were getting yourself into when you started reading this. Speaking of reading this thanks for going this far. Enjoy :D**

_3rd POV, near Firework Beach 10:37 AM_

Percy was nearing the beach, riding on Rainbow, Tyson's ever so faithful hippocampus. Nearing the surface, Percy got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew something was wrong, but as far as he could tell, it wasn't a monster. He knew to always trust his instincts so he prepared himself for anything, or at least, he thought he did.

Walking out of the water, Nemean Lion pelt over his back, he immediately noticed the lack of people at the beach. He walked to the cabins, still nobody in sight, he started to become concerned. Where was everyone? He looked up at the sun, his new blessing of Artemis telling him it was around midday. _Vlakas_. It was lunch time, everyone was in the dining pavillion. Even though this realization helped, it did nothing to ease the feeling in his stomach.

Trying to shake off his uneasiness, he put a smile on his face and walked into the dining pavilion. Upon walking into the pavilion, that same smile vanished. While taking in his surroundings he immediately noted two things: the grim atmosphere and the lack of Annabeth. The atmosphere was so sad it was as if someone died. Percy realized this and assumed the worst, "Hey guys what's got everyone so down? Where's Annabeth?"

Upon hearing his voice, everyone's head shot up, many looking as if they've seen a ghost. Travis and Connor Stoll were the first to snap out of their shock, talking in complete unison, "Percy! We thought you died man!" Percy, was soon greeted with hugs and greetings by nearly the whole camp, but he noticed one person wasn't here yet: Annabeth.

"Hey guys where's Annabeth?" Instead of a response, all he got was an eerie silence. Connor, who looked serious for the first time in his life decided to speak up first, "Perce, you should check the woods. Be prepared for the worst, we all tried to stop it."

Percy looked Conner in the eyes, trying to detect any mischeviousness or bit of humor lying in them. When he was satisfied, he put a blank expression on his face, nodded in thanks, and set off for the woods without a word. The whole time he kept fiddling with the shaft of _Time's March _in it's smaller three foot form, compared to it's regular six and a half feet.

Upon reaching the woods, he heard two people kissing, fearing the worst, he followed the sound. While walking, he composes himself, if this was what he thought it was, he'd never give Annabeth the satisfaction of seeing any emotion on his face. Upon reaching the source of the sound, he took the surroundings, it was a small clearing with a pond and two people sitting next to it, their backs facing him. One was a boy with short trimmed brown hair while the other was a girl with princess curls. _Blonde _princess curls. At seeing her, he nearly snapped, but still kept his face blank. The pond however, seemed to be reacting to Percy's true emotions, swirling into a whirlpool, startling the two lovers. Annabeth started looking around frantically, trying to find the source of the change in the water. What she found made her blood run cold.

_Annabeth's POV (3rd)_

Percy Jackson. The Hero of Olympus. The man who has killed nearly every monster in Greek mythology twice. The man who walked through hell with a smile on his face. The same guy who looked Gaea in the eyes and laughed, just caught her cheating on him, and he looked pissed. You wouldn't be able to tell it by looking at his face, but his eyes told a different story. His usual mirth filled eyes, now literally swirled with anger, resembling the pond next to her. Without a word, he pulled a three foot spear off his back which soon extended to its full length, and slammed the butt of the shaft on the ground, _where did he get that from_? She opened her mouth to talk to him, maybe try and reason before he did anything rash, but before she could, an earthquake hit, immediately knocking her, Darren, and multiple trees next to her to the ground. The earth was shaking so badly that it could be mistaken for Poseidon himself causing it. Percy however, seemed unaffected, and walked towards the camp borders, each step he took sending another tremor into the Earth. After about 40 seconds, the earthquakes seemed to stop, and Annabeth could only look towards the camp borders -where small tremors could be felt- in shock, awe, and slight fear. Annabeth Chase has made an enemy today, and she didn't think it could be anyone worse.

**Well I guess we know why Aphrodite was crying, her favorite ship sunk. Hope you enjoyed the chapter :D**


	4. Chapter4

**Well here it is, chapter 4. Hope you enjoy :D**

_3rd POV, Olympus Throne Room_

"I have called this emergency meeting today to discuss the recent destruction of Camp-Halfblood, which I'm sure you all know about by now," Zeus said. Demeter, Hermes, Ares, Dionysus, Hera, Apollo, Hephaestus, and Hestia all nodded in agreement, while Poseidon, Hades, Artemis, Aphrodite and Athena had confused looks on their faces. Zeus saw this and sent Hermes to get Iris. While waiting for Hermes to come back, most of the gods started whispering to each other, talking about what could have happened.

When Hermes returned with Iris, all talking ceased while Zeus asked the rainbow goddess to show them the destruction at camp. When an I.M finally showed, most of the gods looked at Poseidon for some kind of explanation; this was obviously the result of an earthquake, a very powerful one at that. However, when they saw Poseidon's confused face, they didn't know what to think. Only Athena and, surprisingly, Aphrodite seemed to have somewhat of an idea going on. Aphrodite was about to speak up when Athena cut her off, "Well judging by Barnacle Beard's face, this wasn't him. Leaving only one option, his spawn, Perseus." At this the entire room broke into screaming and arguments until Zeus threw his master bolt in the air, calling for silence.

"Now that we've all stopped acting like children," Zeus said with pointed looks towards Athena and Poseidon, " let's think why of possible reasons why young Perseus would cause this before we go accusing anyone." Nobody spoke up, everyone knew Percy loved camp to death, there wouldn't be any reason for him to destroy the camp.

"Annabeth cheated on Percy!" Everyone turned in shock to Aphrodite, who was covering her mouth, obviously not meaning to blurt that out. Athena looked at her in disbelief, who never considered that her perfect daughter could do something like that. She might not approve of Perseus but you couldn't get a better boyfriend than him. The gods looked as if they were about to start arguing again, until they felt an earthquake shake the foundations of the throne room. They looked to Poseidon, who was gripping his trident so tightly his knuckles were turning white, an ethereal sea green light emitting from him, his face was one of pure rage. He composed himself and the earthquake stopped, and asked in a deathly calm voice, " Is this true Aphrodite? Swear it on the Styx." Aphrodite nodded in response and thunder sounded overhead, confirming she wasn't lying, much to Athena's disbelief.

Poseidon snapped and slammed the butt of his trident into the ground, "This is the last straw Pallas Athena! I Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, and Lord of The Seas declare Athena and her spawn enemies of my realm and all of it's inhabitants. Let no body of water, as small as a puddle, to as large as the oceans allow a spawn of wisdom to tread our waters! Do not attempt to find any solace within the sea, for you will not find any."

The gods were all shocked, Poseidon does not make empty threats, nor does he lose his temper like he did now. "Now brother calm yourself, it was not her that caused your son pain." Zeus said in a surprisingly calm manner, but even he was unnerved by Poseidon's threat. "Not this time Zeus, she has tormented my son for the last time." Poseidon replied in an angry tone. At this the gods looked confused, what had she done? It was Apollo, who's curiosity had won over his fear of his uncle, that spoke up, "Hey Uncle P, what exactly has she done?"

Poseidon let out a bitter laugh, "Where should I start? She's sent him across the Mare Nostrum, to kill the Lernean Hydra, with nothing but the clothes on his back. Or how about the time she sent him on a cross country goose chase to find and kill Lamia with no directions or clues whatsoever to her location. Athena alone has sent him on more quests than all of us combined." Most of the gods looked at Athena in disgust, while some seemed to have some more extreme reactions. Apollo had summoned his bow and started fidgeting with the string, Artemis had summoned one of her hunting knives, Hermes tried to hide his anger but George and Martha had other ideas, constantly transforming into their 'Laser Gun' mode, and Hades had summoned a Stygian Iron sword, which he layed across his lap. Athena looked around, trying to find any support, but even her father seemed to be upset with her.

It was Zeus who broke the tension in the air, "We can blame who later. Let's start with more pressing matters: the state of Camp-Halfblood. Are there any gods who would like to volunteer their assistance to the Demigods?" Hephaestus and Demeter raised their hands, while everyone else abstained. Zeus looked around and seemed satisfied with the answer, "Now, Hermes, can you summon Perseus here?" Hermes nodded and flashed away, he came back a few minutes later with a concerned look on his face, "He's not there father." This sparked some buzz within the gods, "Where could he possibly be?" Zeus asked, with more concern than anything else. He had come to care for his nephew. After all, how could he not after all the boy has done for his children; god and demigod alike. "My children said they haven't seen him since he left for the woods, where he supposedly found Annabeth cheating on him." Hermes said, with a bitter tone to his voice at the end. Surprisingly it was Hera who spoke up, "I say we leave him be for now, things like this can take a while to get over." She said with a pointed look at Zeus, who had the decency to look ashamed.

Everybody looked to Poseidon for confirmation, to which he reluctantly agreed to, understanding that things like this need time, no matter how much he wanted to help him. "Council meeting adjourned" Zeus said, leaving in a flash of thunder, which was followed by 13 flashes.

**Well that was fun to write. Hopefully you guys are enjoying the story so far. Let me know if you guys want any characters to have a larger role in the story or have one return from the dead. Or if you guys want Percy to have any abilities, skills, and other stuff like that.**

**Thoughts? Make sure to leave a review, anything helps. **


	5. Chapter5

**So here's chapter 5, hope you guys like it :D**

_Shoshone National Forest, September 12th _

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

Percy has finally made it, Shoshone National Forest, it's where he decided he would stay for a while. Camp was not an option. No matter how well he hid it, or how much he would deny it, Percy was near tears at seeing Annabeth with another man. He wouldn't - no - couldn't stay at camp anymore. There are too many memories of them together. Once those same memories were something nobody could take away from him, not even the queen of the gods. Now, he prayed for them to go away.

Percy focused on the task at hand: survival. Which, admittedly, would be a lot easier now with Artemis' blessing. Perseus had no idea why Artemis gave him her blessing, she could've stripped the blessing down to just the partial immortality, but she decided to give him everything, with the exception of archery. Not that it'd make a difference, it would help him shoot in the right direction, but other than that his archery was so horrid that Apollo thought he was cursed. Nonetheless, he was eternally grateful for it.

Perseus sighed, he can't be wasting time thinking about the past, there's work to be done.

…

_October 7th **(1st POV**)_

Over the past month I had gotten myself into a pretty good routine. I start my day by waking up at sunrise, and hunting for my breakfast; usually it's elk or hare. Bison could be a good source of food but I don't think I could manage to kill one without alerting the rest of the herd; while I do have the knowledge to do so, I definitely don't have the experience, I'm from Manhattan for Zeus' sake.

I've noticed that something is cleaning up the animals I kill, eating any meat that I don't take. My suspicion is wolves, or more specifically a lone wolf, a big lone wolf.

During my time here my spear, _Time's March,_ has been essential to my survival. Without it I wouldn't have a weapon to hunt for food with. I usually shrink it down to about five feet in length - about the length of a pila - for hunting. The smaller size and lighter weight allows for me to throw it farther, faster and more accurately.

After I hunt I'll spend the next hour cooking, using branches and sticks that I've willed all the water out of as firewood. If I chopped down a tree, the mortals would notice me and that's a problem must couldn't solve. When I actually cook the food I would use some wild spices, herbs, or vegetables that I could find. It usually doesn't taste too bad, thankfully I've always been a decent cook. Any leftover food is usually sacrificed to Artemis, as thanks for a successful hunt and in thanks for the blessing.

After breakfast I start my training regime which consistist of nonstop sprints and down the hills until midday. At first I had to take multiple stops every so often to catch my breath. Since then my endurance has increased exponentially, only needing to stop once or twice throughout the day. Not bad for a month's work. After my jog I eat lunch, which is basically the same routine as breakfast: hunt, cook, sacrifice.

Afterwards I practice using my weapons. First I start off with my newest weapon: _Time's March. Using_ a marker I would carve in trees to gauge my accuracy, I launch my spear hundreds of times a day, practicing until my arm hurts; with each throw I'm becoming more and more accurate. I can usually hit a near bulls-eye from fifty feet, it's good, but not good enough, I refuse to be satisfied until it's perfect consistently. I continue to train with _Riptide_ and _Time's March _until around sunset, again using the trees as targets, practicing swings, stabs, slashes, and just about anything I could think of. Soon enough, these forests should filled with monsters attracted to my demigod scent, allowing me to have some much better targets than just trees.

To end my training, I jog to the Yellowstone Caldera and practice my powers as a son of the earthshaker. No it's not going to erupt because of this, it's not even an active volcano. My father just likes to scare mortals when he's bored. With my earthshaker powers getting better, less mortals are coming to Yellowstone, fearing an eruption that will never happen. All the better for me.

Afterwards I would occasionally go to the Lamar river and clean my clothes using my powers over water. My current attire is green camouflage hunting clothes and black military boots that I stole from some mortal hunting store on my way here. I usually don't wear my Nemean Lion pelt, keeping it in a backpack I found along with any cooking utensils I have, a canteen of water and any other supplies I could need.

Practicing with my power over water can be a bit extreme sometimes. For instance the time I accidentally made Old Faithful erupt, that caused some stir within the mortals; they wouldn't leave for a week. After that incident, I started to resort to using either the Yellowstone Lake or Gardner river. When I'm at the lake I would try to lift as much water as I could for as long as I could, usually being able to hold about half the lake above my head for a minute. It definitely seems impressive, but I know I could do much better; for a demigod, there are no limit to our powers, only barriers that we have to break down.

While at the Gardner river, I try a different approach. The water from the hot springs empty into the river, making it boiling hot at some points - hence the name: hot springs. I use this to my advantage, practicing my control over my powers by cooling it down to freezing temperatures while not turning it into ice.

Currently it's around 10:00 PM, this is usually around the time I start to head home, hunting whatever I could for dinner. It's a long way back so I usually am able to find something, but there has been some nights I go to bed hungry. As I walked back towards the Shoshone National Forest, I started thinking about my training and how I could improve my technique. I realized that all of my training currently is physical, and while that's good, I need to be mentally prepared for the days to come. Winter is over the horizon. While I know by then I'll be physically ready to take it on, I need to be mentally prepared as well to take on hungry days and sleepless nights that are bound to come.

I was broken out of my musings when my stomach growled at me, as if it was telling me to hurry up and find food. I gladly obliged. I started looking for anything that could lead me to some prey. It wasn't until after some time that I was able to find some tracks. Elk tracks to be specific, and they looked fresh. I crouched down immediately, pulling _Time's March _off my back, trying to make as little sound as humanly possible.

I started off in the direction of the tracks, looking for any indication that the elk had changed directions; It hadn't yet. I walked into a clearing with a small pond where I saw what will hopefully be my dinner. Still conscious of the noise I was making, I got into my stance, and with one quick step, I launched my spear at speeds that will make Olympic javelin throwers jealous. The elk heard the spear flying through the air and tried to bolt, but it was too late. My spear struck true, hitting the elk in the heart, killing it instantly. Wary of any wolves attracted to the smell of meat, I immediately got to work, pulling my hunting knife out of my bag. I'm still working on trying to get a holster for it, I probably will head to the Yellowstone General store one day and steal one, most likely needing to use the mist to manipulate whatever mortal catches me and wiping their memory.

I was nearly done skinning the elk when I heard a low growl. I turned around to find what probably was the most beautiful and terrifying sight I've ever seen. Behind me was a single wolf with what looked like the softest black fur I've ever seen and onyx colored eyes. It seemed young, maybe a year or two old, but it was big for it's age, standing at nearly around three and a half feet on all fours. I quickly realized that this must be what has been cleaning up my hunts. It didn't seem hostile, but it looked hungry, which was what scared me the most. When hungry, animals make rash desiscions, lashing out at the sight of food.

Slowly I took one of the chunks of meat and tossed it to the wolf. The wolf, which I determined was a female, sniffed the meat and took a bite. Finding that it tasted fine, she inhaled the rest of it.

I decided to take a gamble, which could turn out well or could end with me losing a hand. I took another piece of meat and held it in my palm, outstreatched towards the female wolf. The wolf, which I have yet to name, came forward slowly, sniffing my palm, and hesitantly licking the food off my hand. When she finished eating, I scratched her behind the ears, she seemed to enjoy the gesture and leaned into my hand.

Taking another look at my new friend, I looked into the wolf's eyes, which were a deep onyx that I've only seen on one other person before. "Zoë," at the name, the wolf wagged its tail and panted happily, apparently liking the name and I think it fits well. Fierce. Deadly. And will rip your throat out. But there's also a soft side to her.

The rest of the night was a blur, after my new companion had decided to stay with me, I cooked my own food, occasionally throwing a small slice of the meat to her. After I finished eating, Zoë and I walked back towards the Shoshone National Forest, where I promptly collapsed against the trunk of a tree, not having the energy to climb up, and Zoë soon followed.

**Well there it is, chapter 5. Hope y'all enjoyed :D**


	6. Chapter6

**So here's chapter 6. ****Enjoy :D**

_Percy's POV (3rd), December 25th_

It was Christmas Day, a time of joy and happiness for many people around the world, but not Percy. Percy and his new faithful companion Zoë have been chased by a swarm of monsters since they first awoke. Since coming to the forest, monsters have flocked towards Percy's scent like moths to a flame.

Seeing a clearing ahead where he could fight the small horde behind him, he whistled towards Zoë, telling her to run to safety. He could never forgive himself if his beloved new companion got hurt because monsters thought he tasted nice.

Percy reached the clearing, turned around, and made note of the monsters he was facing, their numbers were immense, but what else was new. He uncapped _Anaklusmos _and got into a fighting stance, waiting for the monsters to catch up, his Nemean Lion pelt billowing in the wind.

The first monster to break through the tree line was one he recognized all too well: the Minotaur. _Why won't he just stay dead?_ It hasn't even been a year since he last killed him. Soon more monsters followed most prominently were rouge cyclops, dracaena and hell hounds. There was at least fifty monsters in total, which would've made any mere demigod cry for their mommy, but Percy wasn't any mere demigod. Thousands of monsters have fallen to his blade and thousands more will fall before he is finished.

Percy looked to the Minotaur once more, taking note of his horns, he needed to watch for them, they were as strong as mortal steel and as sharp as a sword. The Minotaur, who was never one for patience, charged Percy with a blood curling roar, his axe raised as if he was going to cleave Percy in half. As The Minotaur brought his axe down, Perseus expertly rolled out of its way, getting up with inhuman speed, and stabbed his foe in the neck. The Minotaur let out a shocked roar before dissolving into golden dust.

Not waiting for his enemy to make the first move, Perseus took _Time's March _off of his back, and launched it into the horde of monsters watching, the spear cut through the necks of two cyclops, and the head of a hell hound before landing in the dirt. Percy held out his hand and his spear flew back to his hand. Capping _Riptide_, he put his trusty pen/sword back in his pocket, brandishing his spear, and charged.

The monsters met his charge with full force, but they were like sheep to be slaughtered. Percy was a blur moving between monsters' ranks, stabbing a hell hound before turning and slamming the butt of his spear into the face of a cyclops. He turned to punch a dracaena in the face while bringing his pelt around his side, protecting him from an arrow that would've pierced his lung. He slashed another cyclops in the eye, which let out a scream of pain before dissolving into an all too familiar golden dust. Perseus turned and caught the blade of a sword on the shaft of his spear before kicking the suprised dracaena in the chest and thrusting his spear into her gut.

This continued for another ten minutes, with Percy moving through the monsters' ranks like a hot knife through butter. There were two remaining dracaena who tried to slither away, Percy threw his spear at one and whistled at the other. At the sound of his whistle, Zoë came bounding out of the woods, running at speeds nearing 50mph, which are unheard of for any regular wolf, and ripped the throat of the last monster.

Percy took a second to catch his breath, and looked at the remains of the monster army that had been chasing him. A glint in the snow caught his eye and he went to investigate; upon reaching it he was pleasantly surprised. Waiting in the snow were the horns of the Minotaur. Perseus sent Zoë ahead to their current camp site, and maybe find an animal to kill before he caught up with her.

Over the last few months some things have changed, mostly due to Zoë. He now had a sleeping bag he would use, opting to sleep with Zoë, often laying on top of her. Zoë herself had changed too, growing around six inches in size and putting on more muscle. She was now around fifty three inches at shoulder height, seven feet in length and weighed over 150lbs of pure muscle. Not even wolves in Lupa's pack are not anywhere near her height, weight or speed, and she is still growing.

Percy walked into his miniature camp, Minotaur horns in hand with a small smile on his face, he knew exactly what he'd use these for. For now though, it's time to have breakfast. He whistled for Zoë, who came sprinting back to camp, a hare carcass in her jaws. Percy grinned wide at the sight, knowing he wouldn't have to go hunting, "Good girl Zoë." At the comment, Zoë started barking loudly, each bark resembling a gunshot, while licking Perseus' face. Percy just chuckled lightly and started preparing the meat for Zoë and himself. While cooking, Percy would toss random pieces of meat to Zoë, who took it as a game and started diving for them, eliciting a laugh from Percy when she would miss.

Soon after they were finished eating, Perseus sat down next to a tree, layed against the bark, and got to work with the Minotaur horns. Zoë eventually came over and layed her head down on his lap and soon fell asleep.

It took Percy nearly an hour to carve out the general shape into the horns, he felt the weight of each, and nodded, satisfied they were both perfectly balanced. He reached into his backpack, carful not to wake Zoë, pulled out a whetstone, and started sharpening his future weapons.

It wasn't until three hours later that he would finally put the whetstone down. During that time he and Zoë had gone out and hunted for lunch, they had found a plump bison that would serve as their lunch and a pretty nice sacrifice to Artemis and Poseidon. Thanking the gods was always necessary, and out in the wilderness, if you don't sacrifice to Artemis you're basically asking to be killed for disrespect.

When Percy finished sharpening the horns, he smiled, they would be perfect throwing knives, which he desperately needed. While he could always throw his spear, it wasn't the best thing to do in the middle of battle, a throwing knife on the other hand was about as good as you could get. The only thing that could one-up them is Sciron's dual pistols, and if what he heard from Jason was true, those were the coolest things in existence.

Percy got some string from his bag and started wrapping it tightly around the handle of his new knives, giving them a firm grip. He finished wrapping one and cut the string with the other and repeated this process a second time.

He looked at his finished product, satisfied with his work, but still felt as if something was missing, a certain defining feature. He decided to take the rest of the day to work on engraving the blades, adding a pattern resembling waves crashing in the sea. Percy looked at the finished product in pride, it was absolutely breathtaking. He reached into his bag, pulling out a leg holster and an anklet sheathe. He saw these one day when stealing his sleeping bag and immediately took them as well. Perseus had decided an anklet holster would be better so he could have a concealed weapon and a knife easily accessible in a crouched position.

Perseus looked up at the sky and saw that it was around 8:00 PM, that had taken way longer than he expected, he really needs to start getting a better feel of time; for some reason, he felt as if that would happen whether he wanted it or not.

It was times like this, walking through the woods, with nobody but Zoë where he really reflected on his life. Sometimes he would find himself thinking about his friends from camp, but he wouldn't go back there. It was all too fresh, and besides, he liked it here. His life has always been a never ending war ever since he found out he was a demigod, even after the wars, he never had any peace in his life. But out here, there were no oracles, no wars, no gods assigning him impossible quests every other week. Only him and Zoë, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Percy was broken out of his thoughts when Zoë suddenly started sniffing the air, which usually indicated there was either an animal or monster nearby, judging from Zoe's relaxed stance, it was an animal. Soon enough she started bounding through the forest, at speeds even I couldn't keep up with. I soon caught up to her, only to find her with her teeth in the neck of a moose. I walked up to Zoë and started scratching her behind the ear, "Good job girl, let's get him cleaned up and then we can eat." Zoë started yapping happily, obviously loving all the praise she getting today, along with the petting.

After eating Percy had spent the rest of the night looking at the stars, Zoë laying on top of him and taking in the peacefulness of the night. This was his life now, and Percy wouldn't change for anything.

**Well there it is, chapter 6, hope you enjoyed it :S**


	7. Chapter7

**So here's chapter 7, enjoy :D**

_August 3rd, One Year Later _

_3rd POV_

Percy was going for his daily jog, Zoë right on his heels, when his mind started drifting to the events that happened this past year, mostly about his progress with his training; he had kicked his it up a notch this year. Instead of a regular jog he would fill his backpack with stones and start jogging up and down the hills. Rather than simply throwing his spear at a target carved into the bark of a tree, he now had a whole obstacle course that he has yet to perfect. It consists of targets from all ranges: high to low, short to far, mid-air to boots on ground, underwater to surface, if there was a place for a target, he put it there. His training with throwing knives was just as extreme, instead of an obstacle course where he had the luxury of a spear that always returned to him, he opted to use live targets; practicing on birds flying in the air, squirrels jumping from tree to tree and monsters running away from him in fear. At one point throughout the year, a flock of stymphalian birds came to try and kill him. The month or so that they occupied the forest was when he improved the most, killing every last bird. He and Zoë had never eaten so much bird in their life, and Perseus believes that Artemis nor Poseidon have had as much food sacrificed to them since the ancient times.

Percy's power as a Son of Poseidon has increased so much his aura could be mistaken for that of a god. Instead of simply lifting the water in the Yellowstone lake he now trains by turning it into a whirlpool, spinning it as fast as he can, then holding it in the air. While training at the Gardner river, he usually likes to have some fun with the mortals, rapidly freezing and heating the entire river.

His most destructive power comes from his earthquakes, when channeling any of his power - even in the slightest - each step he takes sends tremors into the Earth, knocking down many small animals and rodents from the trees. Thankfully Zoë has seemed to gotten used to it and doesn't even stumble anymore, instead opting to lie next to Perseus, using the vibrating ground as a back massage. On the other hand, his strongest earthquakes can cause mountains to crumple and split.

What seemed to improve the most though was his skill with _Riptide _and _Time's March. _His skill with the sword and spear has increased to the point where Achilles would be jealous; monsters constantly attacking him has made sure of that. Everyday hordes of monsters attack, most of the time it's basic monsters like cyclops and hell hounds, but every now and then he'll fight a drakon or two.

If possible, throughout the year Zoë has gotten even bigger, nearing five feet tall at her shoulders. She's put on another 10lbs of muscle and seems to be even faster than before. Much to Percy's relief, it seems she's hit her peak now, he doesn't know how he'll feed her if she keeps growing. Speaking of Zoë, "What is it girl? Monsters?" Zoë had stopped to sniff the air, and she seemed tense, ready to attack on a moments notice. Perseus was able to see this and immediately uncapped _Riptide_, the familiar three foot long bronze xiphos appearing in his hand.

Zoë started sniffing the air once more, and let out a long howl. Perseus was confused as to what could possibly be going on, she usually doesn't act like this. More wolves howled in response and soon Percy felt the presence of a god. The question was, which one's ass will he have to kick to keep this sliver of tranquility in his life. Then Percy saw her. The same goddess that takes in all children of Rome - Lupa.

Lupa walked up to Perseus, sniffing the air. His scent was familiar, but she couldn't remember who this demigod was. Perseus just smirked, obviously amused by the whole situation. It isn't really a surprise she wouldn't recognize his appearance, Percy now had a full grown beard, a drastic change from his old clean shaven baby-face. Percy doesn't know if he's a fan of the look or not, but he does enjoy the warmth it provides in the winter. Another big factor was his clothing, before he came to Shoshone, you wouldn't have caught him dead in anything but jeans, a camp t-shirt, and some converse. Now he exclusively wears camouflage; usually in accordance to the seasons. Currently he was wearing a green camouflaged jacket with matching military boots, pants and gloves. Not to mention the Nemean Lion pelt he currently had on.

"You seriously don't recognize Olympus' long lost hero Lupa? I think your nose is finally failing you my lady," Percy said in a mocking tone. Lupa, who seemed shocked at the revelation stared at him, mouth wide open. "Oh shut your mouth Lupa, you'll catch flies."

"Perseus," Lupa replied, "how are you? The gods are worried about you." At this Percy let out a bitter laugh, "They aren't worried me, they just miss their quest boy." Lupa had the decency to look ashamed, the Olympians were not alone in sending him off on meaningless quests, away from his friends and family for extended periods of times. "I apologize for that Perseus, but you should return to Olympus, you cannot stay out here forever. Your scent attracts too many monsters."

"I am aware of that Lupa, how could I not be, do you to know the irony in that? I'd rather be swarmed by monsters daily, staying out here with my wolf, than living at camp again." Lupa looked at him as if he grew a second head, "why would you ever want that Perseus?"

Percy just looked at her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "It's peaceful," Lupa looked at him to elaborate more, " Seven years Lupa. My life for seven straight years, from the age of twelve until I left, had been a constant battle, a never ending war. Out here I am free, there are no prophecies deciding the fate of the world, nobody looking to me to lead children to war, there are no gods sending me off on life risking quests every other week just for the fun of it. There is just me and Zoë, and nothing will ever take that away from me." When Percy mentioned Zoë, he motioned to the large wolf next to him, which Lupa had apparently seemed to miss when she arrived, focusing on the unknown demigod.

Lupa actually looked to be sorry for what she's put him through, not knowing what to say in response. That was until she noticed the closeness between Percy and Zoë, she knew of the crucible that she and the other gods put Perseus through; she also knew what happened was borderline unforgivable, but this was a start. She walked up to Zoë, putting her paw against the large wolf's head, and muttered some words in the ancient tongue. When she finished, a silvery glow descended unto Zoë. After the light had disappeared, Zoë's fur seemed to look softer, her eyes a deeper shade of black, and she seemed younger. At Percy's questioning glance Lupa said, "If you wish to be with your companion for the rest of your life, then so be it."

It took Percy a second to put the pieces together but when he did, he was practically jumping with joy, nearly hugging Zoë to death. "Thank you Lupa, I am in your debt. However, I would prefer if you didn't tell anyone about this altercation, but if you must, let them know I am happy." Lupa simply nodded and bounded off, away from the forest, her pack in tow.

Percy smiled at Zoë and walked back towards camp, "come on girl, let's go for a walk, we have a lot more time on our hands now."

**Well there's chapter 7. Yeah Zoë was made partially immortal, wolves have short lifespans and plot armor can't break death - well usually. Hope you enjoyed :P**


	8. Chapter8

**So here's chapter 8, enjoy :D**

_Shoshone National Forest_

_2 years later, November 2nd _

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

Percy was getting bored. Don't get him wrong, he loved being out here, but he wanted a change of scenery; he could tell Zoë did too. Percy started to reflect on the past events of these last two years, which alone had probably put him in the greatest physical condition humanly possible.

Percy changed his training regime immensely, deciding to forget the obstacle courses, the monsters attacking him provided more than enough targets. Now all of his time and effort went into his physical strength, endurance, agility, and speed.

Percy wasn't going to give himself any breaks, he set up a day by day schedule, each day focusing on a different muscle group. If Percy was going to be honest with himself, at the time, he had no idea what day of the week it was, hell he didn't even know what month it was; he knew was that it was Autumn, the falling leaves gave that away.

His first day of training left his arms feeling like lead. The whole day was a mixture of push-ups, pull-ups, chin ups, anything that could improve his upper body strength. At one point he tied a bunch of boulders together, loopped the rope over a branch of a tree and started pulling, he didn't get them more than a foot off the ground but he became determined. He would not stop until he could do it with ease, whether it came the next week, the next month, the next year, or the next decade, he would continue until he could pull them to the top. And he did. Anytime throughout the day where his body felt like giving up on him, he would just drench himself in water, giving himself an energy boost.

The next day he decided so work on his speed and endurance. Tying his old bag of rocks to himself, he set off into the forest in a sprint. Anytime he was slowing down or near collapsing, Zoë would come and start biting his ankles. He loved his wolf to death, but could she not be so good at her job? Perseus only stopped his sprint at noon for a quick lunch break. The second he finished eating it was right back to training, much to the ire of his aching muscles. He wouldn't finish until the sun had completely set, rejuvenating himself with water summoned from the air anytime he was slowing down. He promised himself that he wouldn't stop until he could sprint the whole length of Yellowstone Park without breaking a sweat. He has yet to make a promise he couldn't keep.

The next day, he focused on his core muscles. Doing so many sit-ups, crunches, planks, leg lifts, and some more extravagant ideas. He'd swing his legs over the branches of a tree and start doing sit ups upside down. He added many more exercises knowing that they'll hurt now, but will be worth it in the future. Percy knew that his core was probably one of the most important muscle groups, so he vowed that he wouldn't stop his training until he could go through his routine without needing a break. And he did exactly that.

The following morning, he would do yoga, stretching out his sore muscles. Zoë thought it looked fun and tried to join in; she always failed miserably and fell onto her back. Apparently she likes that position better, choosing to roll around in the grass instead of stretch. He repeated this process the next day as well.

It wasn't until nearly a year and a half later that he met his goals. It was probably the most satisfying thing Percy had ever accomplished. Percy didn't think he was hulking with muscles, but thought of himself as pretty well built.

The monsters stopped attacking him about a month ago, probably too scared to do so, leaving him alone with Zoë. In that month Perseus had seen everything there was to see. He knew every inch of the Shoshone Forest and Yellowstone National Park like the back of his hand. It was time for a change in scenery. So he walked back to camp and started packing, making sure to grab some extra tennis balls for Zoë, he swears she's more dog than wolf.

Percy finished packing and started walking, he didn't know where he was going, but he knew that with Zoë at his side, it was going to be a good time.

**Well there it is, chapter 8. Hope you enjoyed :E**


	9. Chapter9

**So here it is, chapter 9. **

**Enjoy :D**

_5 years later_

_Lake Glacier National Park, Montana_

_February 27th 1:34 AM_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

Sitting on top of a mountain, Zoë fast asleep next to him, looking up at the northern lights, Perseus never felt more at peace. He pulled a small, wooden guitar shaped key chain off his backpack and watched as it grew into his two foot long travel guitar. He got it from an older son of Apollo he had saved from monsters. Percy has stayed with the son of Apollo, Jake was his name, for about a month; learning how to play the instrument. He couldn't stay for too long sadly, Zoë was a wild animal, not some house pet.

He strummed a few notes, accidentally waking Zoë up. Zoë walked around for a bit, stretching out her muscles, and sat down next to Perseus in the snow. Percy smiled at that, the closer she sat the more she liked the tune. He continued to play late into the night, enjoying the beautiful scenery and tranquility of the night. He fell asleep happily, thinking to himself that life couldn't get any better.

-0-

_Thalia's POV (3rd)_

_February 28th, 8:57 PM_

_Lake Kintla, Glacier National Park, Montana_

Thalia wanted to be out looking for her cousin- Percy Jackson. That kelp head has been missing for over eight years and nobody has heard from him. The only indication that he's even alive is the sacrifices to Artemis, Poseidon and occasionally Hermes. It wasn't until around a year later that the mythological world felt the effect of his absence.

Questers started failing miserably, coming back not even a day after leaving, usually sporting severe injuries. The gods had realized that they were giving out impossible tasks, expecting the demigods to come back into camp with a smile on their face. Sadly there was only one man capable of that: Perseus Jackson. Percy had always persisted through anything that was thrown at him, no matter how difficult, no matter the pain he was in; he'd complete the quests, sheer willpower and determination powering him through.

The camps, however, noticed his absence quickly.

When not completing impossible tasks for the gods, he was everyone's best friend, older brother, and mentor all rolled in one. You needed help with your swordsmanship? Ask Percy. You needed someone to talk to? Ask Percy. You needed advice? Ask Percy. Blackjack leading another rebellion? You better get Percy. You could ask him anything, he'd be there, not mattering the time or place, he was always there.

However, nobody felt his absence more than Thalia, Percy was her brother in everything but blood. Ever since he left, she's become colder, fully adopting a hunter's mentality.

The gods wanted to start sending search parties out for him, but were stopped at Lupa's request. Only the Olympians know the details of the meeting but apparently he's happy wherever he is.

Thalia currently was teaching two new hunters how to hunt a wolf and signs that there's one in the area. An auburn haired hunter, Kayla, called her over. Thalia reaches Kayla and found what she was looking at, wolf tracks. They followed the tracks into a clearing, finding the largest wolf Thalia had ever seen, with all black fur and onyx colored eyes. The wolf heard Thalia and the girls coming and ran away howling into the air. Not wanting their prey to escape them, the hunters sprinted after it.

This damn wolf was fast, she was barely able to keep track of it. The chase ended with the wolf backed up against the edge of a cliff, seeing the hunters closing in on it, the wolf howled into the air once more.

Thalia and her hunters closed in on the wolf, not letting it escape. They were taking aim when Thalia heard the sound of footsteps pounding into the snow, she decided to ignore it, "Fire!" At the sound of her voice she heard the familiar twang of bowstrings. What happened next Thalia wouldn't believe if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.

A man broke the tree line, throwing two throwing knives mid stride, both intercepting arrows mid-flight, all four projectiles clattering to the ground. As the third arrow was closing in, the man picked up his pace to speeds that should be impossible for a human. He ran infront of the wolf, and covered both of their bodies with a golden pelt. When the third arrow broke against the pelt, the man turned around, his sea green eyes literally swirling in anger. Wait._ Swirling?_ Thalia recognized that from somewhere, but couldn't put her finger on it.

The man stomped his foot on the ground, sending an earthquake towards Thalia and her hunters, "What the Hades do you think you're doing?!" The man, who was obviously a demigod, shouted. Thalia, who doesn't like taking crap from anyone, said, "Who do you think you're talking to _boy?_"

"Seriously Thals? You shoot my wolf, then have the audacity to try and insult me?" Thals? The only people who called her that were Annabeth an- "Percy?" At this her fellow hunter's ears perked up, they, like everyone else, have heard tons of stories about the legendary demigod from the older hunters.

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

"Well who did you think it was? Apollo?" Percy replied, obviously frustrated. They just shot at Zoë, his best friend. At the revelation Thalia ran up to him and crushed him in a hug with tears in her eyes. Percy hugged her back, his anger dissapearing; even though he was more than happy with his current life, doesn't mean he hadn't missed his favorite cousin. When Thalia pulled away, she gave him a look over, then punched him squarely in the jaw, "Where the hell have you been?! Do you know how worried I've been about you? You could've I.M'd me-" Percy stopped paying attention to her at this point, focusing on holding Zoë back from killing Thalia after punching him, she's overprotective like that.

When Zoë finally calmed down, Percy turned back to Thalia, only to find another fist being thrown at him. This time he was ready and caught it, "Could you not do that? It's not easy holding back a 170lb wolf trying to killing you." Thalia seemed to finally realize that Zoë belonged to Percy and looked confused, she was about to question Percy about it when two hunters ran up to her, talking in hushed tones. Thalia had made them swear on the Styx not to tell anyone about her seeing me, the threat of a high voltage lightning bolt making them agree quickly.

After the two hunters left, Percy and Thalia talked until well past midnight, catching up on the past events of the last nine years the two cousins have spent apart. When Thalia finally was too tired to continue trading stories, she headed off back to camp, but not before making him promise to I.M her at least once a week.

**Well there you have it, chapter 9. Hope you enjoyed ;-;**


	10. Chapter10

**So here's chapter 10.**

**Enjoy :D**

_Wheat Field near Topeka, Kansas_

_June 3rd_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

Percy was walking through Kansas, reminiscing about his times with The Seven. The entire quest seemed to be a series of unfortunate events tied together, but looking back at it, it's easy to laugh at. Percy was broken out of his thoughts when he noticed a change in the atmosphere. The sky was darkening, the smell of ozone filled the air. He felt a tingling feeling on the back of his neck and immediately rolled out of the way. What came next was the largest bolt of lightning he had ever seen, so bright that it forced him to shut his eyes. When the light died down, what he saw utterly confused him.

In place of the lightning bolt was hundreds of monsters ranging from telkhines to drakons. Percy, not wasting time wondering how these monsters got here, quickly sent Zoë away. He pulled _Time's March_ off his back and launched it at the closest drakon, piercing its eye and going straight to its brain. The monsters charged him. Not missing a beat he called his spear back to his hand, channeled his earth shaker powers, and slammed the butt of the spear into the ground.

The earthquake that followed brought the entire army to its knees. The earthquake had shattered the Earth itself, with the land now displaced and filled with cracks. Percy however was unfazed. He uncapped _Riptide _and charged the monster army that has yet to get up.

Percy had cut through a third of the army before they were back on their feet. Seeing that he was now actually fighting the monsters, he summoned a hurricane. Percy tried to summon a storm to hit some monsters with lightning or two, but found that he was unable to. Strange. It didn't matter, his hurricane, which was already at speeds nearing 130mph, proved to be more than enough. Any projectiles attempted to be thrown at Percy would be caught within his hurricane and any monster foolish enough to challenge him was cut down ease.

Percy felt his hurricane slowing down rapidly; he wasn't tiring. What the Hades is going on? Percy quickly released his hurricane, sending all of the arrows and spears thrown at him flying in all directions, killing a few monsters. With a shout, Percy stomped his foot into the ground, sending another earthquake towards the now much smaller monster army. Letting loose a war cry, Percy charged the last drakon. Percy jumped into the air from 10 ft away, flying towards the drakon with _Riptide _in an ice pick grip. He reached the drakon and slammed the blade right between its eyes, putting enough force behind the downward thrust that he pierced its thick hide, killing it instantly.

Percy fell to the ground landing in a roll, throwing his knife strapped to his ankle at a dracaena aiming her bow at him. Not waiting for the drakon to disintegrate and reclaim _Riptide, _he pulled his spear off his back and charged the monsters once more.

The next five minutes Percy had fought like a man possessed, any monster that came too close would soon find out why he was the most feared being in the mythological world. Percy walked up to a telkhine -the last monster left alive- that was attempting to waddle away and stuck his second knife through one of its flippers, pinning it to the ground.

Percy walked infront of the telkhine, who looked as if it was trying not to scream, brandishing his spear.

"There are two ways this could go down," Percy said, "One is you tell me who sent you and you go back to Tartarus the easy way. The other is where you refuse to tell me, and I show you why this spear was Kronos's favored weapon."

The telkhine looked at him with narrowed eyes, "You lie demigod, Lord Kronos did not have a spear. He used a scythe." Percy just shrugged in response, "suit youself."

Percy willed the spear to use its true power. Percy never liked this ability, it was too cruel for him, but he needed to know whether he was going to kick Zeus' ass or if there was an actual threat. Percy stabbed the telkhine in his back left flipper, eliciting a literal howl of pain. Apparently the dog part of them is more than just looks.

"Are you going to talk or do I have to continue?" The telkhine, who apparently liked his soul intact, whimpered something incomprehensible. Percy was quickly losing his patience, "Oh for _fucks _sake! Speak up!"

"Ouranos! I- it's Ouranos! Please just get that spear away from me!" Well that would explain why he couldn't summon lightning or why his hurricane suddenly started failing. Great. Just _fucking _great. Now he had another Primordial to worry about, one that seemed pretty determined to kill him.

The telkhine suddenly started laughing, "You will not survive demigod, in just a few years Ouranos will waken stron-" Percy had enough and stabbed him in the skull, he's heard the whole 'my master will awaken and end the world' speech too many times in the last war.

Percy took a deep breath and sighed. He had a couple years before he would have to return to Olympus and save the gods' asses once again, he might as well enjoy them. Calling Zoë back to him, he set off in a random direction, not really caring where he was going. He just wanted to make the most of these last few years of peace.

**Well there it is, chapter 10. Hope you enjoyed :3**


	11. Chapter11

**So here's chapter 11, hope you enjoy it :D**

_Somewhere in Connecticut _

_Percy's POV (1st)_

_October 7th_

Today was Zoë's birthday. Well, it was the day I found her, and seeing there being no way to ask her what her birthday is, I decided this was close enough. I walked back into camp, a freshly killed pronghorn over my back. It was Zoe's favorite animal to eat, and, naturally, it was also the most annoying to hunt.

Setting the pronghorn down by the fire, I started skinning it, cutting off specific parts of the animal that Zoë liked the best and setting them aside. I cut the rest of the pronghorn and separated the meat into two different sections: forr the gods and for me. The gods, of course, got the best portions of the animal, anything else would be seen as, how Zeus put it, 'blatant disrespect, punishable by spontaneous combustion'. Fat bastard...

I quickly cooked the food and threw the gods' portion into the slowly dwindling fire, '_For Hestia, Zoë is __the greatest family I could have asked for. Thank you."_ I decided to go grab some more wood for the fire, Zoë seemed to like it, and today was all about her.

After grabbing enough wood to last well into the night, I started heading back to camp, expecting to find Zoë fast asleep from a food coma. When I entered the camp, what I actually found made me drop all of the wood in shock. Zoë was there, but instead of a sleeping wolf, I found a wolf being belly scratched by a nine year old girl.

"Oh isn't she just the cutest thing!" The little girl shrieked. I had the feeling I knew this girl, I just couldn't put my finger on it. (Don't give me that look, I've been away from society for nearly a decade.) "Now I see why you decided to thank me for her." Thank her? I ne- oh.

"Lady Hestia," I said with a bow of my head, "what brings you to my humble abode. And please don't say war preparations, I'm planning on putting that off as long as I can." Hestia just smiled warmly at me, "No Perseus, I just wanted to meet the famous Zoë you mentioned, I don't hear from you in years and all the sudden there's a Zoë in your life," Hestia frowned for a second, "Did you say a war?"

Of course they don't know. Why would they know that another Primordial is out for blood? I sighed and explained my experience I had with the army of monsters and the telkhine. When I finished Hestia was quiet for a moment, "That is... troubling, to say the least. I should report that to the council later. For Now. Let me hear about what my favorite demigod has been through the past few years."

…

It took multiple days to tell all of my stories to Hestia, who has yet to leave my camp yet. She had kept on insisting that I go through every detail possible, no matter how big or small. I remember trying to explain to her why I thought taking Zoë into a McDonalds was a good idea, apparently the mist doesn't work too well on non-mythological creatures, who would've thought?

Having Hestia around was.. different, to say the least. There were highs and lows for sure. A definite high was having another person to talk to, it could get boring out here by yourself. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade Zoë for anything in the world, but having someone to physically speak to? That's a luxury I don't get other than my weekly Iris Messages to Thalia. Probably the worst part of her staying was Zoë's new complacency; Hestia had spoiled her rotten. Anytime Zoë gave her puppy dog eyes (which shouldn't even work! She's a wolf for gods' sake!), she immediately caves in and summons food. Now I have a lazy 150lb super wolf. Just great.

Hopefully the gods don't start looking for me after Hestia reveals the threat of Ouranos, I don't feel like returning just yet. If they don't shut up I could always say I'm hunting monsters, that's what Thalia says Artemis does when she doesn't feel like going to council meetings.

**So there it is, chapter 11. Hope you enjoyed @_@**


	12. Chapter12

**So here it is, chapter 12. The plot advances! **

**Enjoy :D**

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

Percy was sleeping peacefully after a long day of killing monsters. He didn't understand why Ouranos thought it would be a good idea to keep sending them at him, if it doesn't work the first seven times then it definitely won't work the eighth.

He was dreaming about his time in the Yellowstone national park until he was snapped awake by the sound of voices below him. Apparently having fallen asleep in the tree _was_ a good idea, his back however, would disagree.

"Milady, there's a lot of monster tracks here." Great. Hunters. "Yes Phoebe, I can see that. Hunters be ready, there could be an ambush." Perfect. Artemis is there with them. Could this honestly get any worse? Percy, in an attempt to put some distance between him and the hunt, started jumping from branch to branch, trying to make as little sound as possible.

Things were going smoothly, until the squirrel came. It had come out of nowhere, right onto the same branch as him not caring about the noise it was making. "Milady, in the trees!"

"Hunters, open fire." Percy quickly jumped down from the branch he was on, landing on the ground in a roll, arms raised in a surrender gesture. "Now before you guys try to kill me-," Percy was cut short by an arrow whizzing towards his face, "now that wasn't very nice Pheobe."

Percy was about to speak again when another arrow came flying towards him, "Could you guys not do that?"

"How do you know my name boy?" Pheobe asked. Percy was about to respond when he saw Thalia snickering, if she doesn't want to help him, he won't help her, "well it's mainly from your lieutenant I.Ming me weekly."

All heads immediately turned to Thalia and Percy had to hold back a laugh from the angry look on her face. A small smile suddenly graced her features, "Yeah, I don't see the problem talking to my cousin: Percy Jackson."

All heads snapped back to Percy, most of them studying him, trying to find any features resembling their old friend. Some of the newer hunters looked at him in shock, they've all heard the stories about the legendary hero. "Touché Thals."

Percy was trying to figure out a way to escape the hunt, without injuring them. Maybe he could call Zoë? Use her entrance as a distraction, and sprint away. There were some flaws in the plan, such as Zoë getting injured or the resident goddess chasing him down. Speaking of Artemis, where was she?

Percy scanned the group of hunters, there was no goddess in sight. Percy was immediately set on high alert, he had definitely heard her earlier, and the lack of movement from the hunters suggested something was up. He felt a tingling sensation on the back of his neck and immediately jumped out the way, dodging an arrow shot at him. The arrow wouldn't have been able to pierce the impenetrable pelt he was wearing, but the force applied would've left a nasty bruise. "Do you all just shoot arrows at people when you meet them?"

Artemis walked into view, adorning her usual twelve year old form, "It's nice to know that your reflexes haven't diminished Perseus- nor your ability to annoy me." Percy let out a huge smile at that, he always took pride in pissing immortals off.

"Percy Jackson!" Ah schist, "Hey Pheobe, how's life?" This seemed to only make her angrier, "How's life? You seriously leave camp for nine years, leaving us no competition in capture the flag, and you have the audacity to ask me how's life?"

"Yeah that seems about right." At this she let out a laugh, "It's good to see you haven't lost your nerve."

"Perseus," Artemis said, "while I would hate to interrupt this little reunion, I'm afraid I have to bring you to Olympus. Your father has been quite different without you, and the council would most likely want to discuss the war with Ouranos with you, seeing that you are the only person to meet his forces."

Percy was confused, "You've guys haven't been attacked yet?" All of the hunters shook their head, "Seriously? No giant thunderbolt coming down, bringing hundreds of monsters with it?" When nobody gave a response, Percy looked up at the sky and gave it a one finger salute, eliciting a laugh from most of the hunt. He let out a long sigh, "I'll come with you, but only on a few conditions," Artemis made a gesture for him to continue, "Rule number one, I don't have to stay at the camps." Artemis nodded and motioned for him to go on, but before he did however, he let out a long whistle. "Rule number two, you guys have to look after my wolf while I'm gone."

Percy laughed at the confused looks on the hunters' faces. One of them was about to speak up until the largest wolf they've ever seen came running into the area, crashing into Percy and knocking him to the ground, licking his face, "Ack! I missed you too girl, now could you stop doing that? I'm water proof not slobber proof." Percy laughed again at the shocked look the hunters were giving him, "So hunters meet Zoë, Zoë meet the hunters. Zoë you will be staying with the hunters for a while, don't eat them until I get back," Percy turned back to Artemis, "Alright, these are my terms, do we have a deal?"

"Yes Perseus I believe these terms are agreeable, although you will have to tell me more about your companion after this is all finished." Percy just nodded in response and disappeared with Artemis in a flash of golden light.

**So there's the chapter, I was going to make this and the next one just one long chapter but I don't know if I would be able to finish it on time, so you guys have to deal with this for now. If you want me to incorporate anything into the story lmk and I'll be sure to try. **

**Make sure to leave a review, anything and everything helps.**


	13. Chapter13

**So here's Chapter 13, people are saying they want longer chapters instead of short ones that come out daily. So here it is.**

** Enjoy :D**

_Olympus, third POV_

Artemis had teleported Percy and herself to the elevators that connected the mortal world and Olympus together, she could've brought them straight to the throne room, but she wanted to hear about the wolf that Perseus had. She beliveved he named her Zoë. "Perseus, where did you find that wolf? They usually don't grow to be that large - a female no less. And how did you tame it?"

"I found her during my second month in the Yellowstone National Park while skinning an elk; she had snuck up behind me and looked hungry, so I threw her some of the meat. She ate it quickly and I held another piece in my hand, and she came and ate that. Since then she's been my constant companion, staying with me through thick and thin - from harsh winters to scorching summers. As for why she's so big I have no idea. Maybe the fates decided they were sorry for being complete assholes to me my entire life and she was their apology. I've never really questioned it, and I've never really cared, I only knew to count my blessings- thanks for that by the way."

Artemis nodded, satisfied with his answers, but something still bugged her, "Why name her Zoë?" Percy smiled at the question, "The name was a perfect fit." he replied simply. At Artemis' questioning look he continued, "She's strong, beautiful, and can rip your throat out in a blink of an eye, all while having a soft side few get to know. Besides the fur color and eyes have an uncanny resemblance." Artemis smiled at the description of her huntress, it really did describe her perfectly. Artemis looked like she wanted question him more but they had reached the throne room doors. They walked in wordlessly, only to find Hestia and Zeus sitting there, chatting aimlessly, giving Percy some serious deja vu.

"Ah my daughter, what brings you here," Zeus turned his gaze to Perseus, "and who is this?"

Percy made a look of mock hurt, "Ouch Zeusie, that really hurt, I felt that right here," he pointed to his heart, "a man tries to kill you for most of your life, then forgets your face after not seeing him for a few years." Percy was barely able to hide his laughter at seeing Zeus' utterly confused face, Hestia and Artemis however weren't as lucky. Artemis, who was barely able to stifle her laughter said, "Father may you summon the council? I believe Poseidon would like to hear what his long lost son has to say."

Percy looked annoyed, "Why did you give it away? I wanted it to be a surprise; maybe douse a god or two with water in the process." Zeus let out a long laugh, "Ah young Perseus, it is good to see you back again, your maddening sarcasm retained no less. Fear not, your secret is safe with me, drama is my specialty." As he finished talking, he summoned his master bolt and threw it into the air, causing lighting to dance across the sky. The sound that followed echoed throughout the world, acting as a summons for the council members.

Soon, one after another, the rest of the council flashed in, most of them giving questioning glances to the camouflage clad man sitting by the hearth. Some of them did a double take at the golden pelt that layed across his back, recognizing it as the pelt of the Nemean Lion. Poseidon flashed in last, trident in hand, not sparing the man in center of the room a second glance. It took most of Percy's willpower to not get up and hug his father right then and there, but he held himself back, dramatics come first.

After Poseidon sat down, Zeus threw his master bolt into the air once more. "I call this council meeting to a start. I believe our guest would like to introduce himself" Percy just smiled and summoned water out of the air and started shaping it, the gods watched on in amazement as the water started making writing in cursive. When Percy was finished the water spelled _Percy Jackson_ with an arrow pointing to himself. "Ta-Da! How hav- Oomph" Percy was cut off by a teary eyed Poseidon ,who crushed him in a hug that could give Tyson's a run for his money, apparently that specific ability was hereditary. "I've missed you so much my son, the sea has been quiet in your absence." Percy returned the hug with just as much fervor, he had missed his father immensely, but couldn't talk to him without being ripped out of what had been the greatest years of his life.

Most of the gods watched the exchange with a small smile on their faces, it had been a while since Poseidon had been so happy. It had seemed that when Percy left, he took the Sea God's carefree and relaxed attitude with him. The only gods that didn't watch the scene with elated expressions were Dionysus and Ares- for reasons that were obvious enough. Even Athena was happy for the two, she had accepted Poseidon's curse as punishment for her and her daughter's actions, and actually felt genuinely sorry for her long time rival.

"While I am sorry for the interrupting this reunion, we have pressing matters to attend to." As Poseidon nodded and went back to his throne, Zeus turned his attention to Percy, who had a huge smile plastered across his face. "But first, I believe we all would like to know what happened during your time away Perseus, so if you would."

"Well you better get comfortable because this will take a while." At this, all of the gods summoned a variety of pillows, blankets and cushions. When Percy saw they were all ready he continued, "Well after I left the camp, I set off to the Yellowstone National Park, it was a large place where I could survive by myself without anyone knowing. During my time there, I had transformed my body into a weapon through excruciating training regimes set up to push my body past its limits. While there I had to survive through some of the harshest conditions with nothing more than the clothes on my back and my skills and intellect.

"Before any of this happened, I had received Artemis' blessing - at Zeus' order most likely. It had saved me countless times, giving me knowledge on how to survive off the land and everything I would need to know about living in the wilderness. During October of my first year I had found my only companion - Zoë - a wolf who would serve to be my only friend and company throughout all these years. I was completely alone in Yellowstone, there was just me, Zoë and the constant hordes of monsters that were attracted to my ever growing scent. For nearly four years that was my way of life: training, killing and enjoying my solitude. My life stayed that way until there was no skills left to improve, no muscles to condition, and no monsters daring to challenge me.

"I had been wandering around the country, enjoying the sights and tranquility of my isolation. I likely would've stayed like this for the rest of my partially immortal life if I wasn't being forced into this world once more; forced into a war I don't want to fight. Until I left Camp Halfblood, I had been living a never ending war, fighting day to day against insurmountable odds; facing down armies; seeing people look up to me to be their leader, to save them, only to die from the never ending wave of enemies, and completing impossible tasks, just because the gods had asked for it. And now, Ouranos has targeted me, sending his legions of monsters at me while he wakes. When he awakens he will attempt to take back his undisputed rule over the world, and I will be there, honor bound to defend your reign."

As Percy was finishing his speech, the gods looked at him with varying levels of pity and guilt. They had always thought Perseus to be unstoppable, unwavering, and unbeatable; they never considered how he might've felt about it, or the psychological toll it took on his brain. Zeus was the first to break the silence, "Thank you Perseus, now there's what we need to do in order to prepare for the threat."

"I vote that we combine the two camps into one for the duration of the war, if we station them at camp halfblood, they'll be in a better position to defend Olympus." Athena said. Zeus looked around the room, "All in favor?" The gods raised their hands in a unanimous vote "The vote is passed then. Onto the next matter. Perseus, what will you do?"

Percy mulled his answer over for a few seconds, "I would hope to stay in the wild, roaming the country side and hunting down monsters until the war officially starts." Zeus thought about his answer for a few minutes, until he finally came to a conclusion, "You say you wish to roam around the country and hunt down Ouranos' army, but therein lays the problem of where you will be when the war actually starts. I vote he stays with Artemis and her hunt for the time being, in order to compromise between his wishes and what will be best in preparation for the war. All who agree?" There was another unanimous agreement between the council, "In that case, I call this council meeting to a close. And Perseus, welcome back." Zeus left in a flash of light along with all of the gods except for Poseidon, Artemis and strangely Hephaestus. They all got off their thrones and shrunk down to their respective human sizes. "If it isn't too much of a problem for you two, I would like to borrow the lad for a few moments, a certain way to say sorry for the trouble I've caused." Hephaestus said.

"I've waited nearly a decade to talk to my son again, I can wait a few more hours. Call me when you have time Perseus." Poseidon said, leaving in a sea breeze.

"Make sure to bring him to my hunt when you're done." Hephaestus grunted in response and Artemis flashed away. Without saying a word Hephaestus teleported them away to what Perseus could assume was one of his forges, "Now lad, let's see your armory." Percy pulled his spear, _Riptide, _and his two throwing knives out and placed them on a nearby table. Upon seeing the knives, the forge god let out a long whistle, "Fine craftsmanship on these here my boy. I must say: I'm impressed." Hephaestus looked over his weapons once more and noticed something, "No shield?"

"I never was able to find something strong enough to make one out of." Percy responded sheepishly. "That's completely fine, I have an idea for what I could make for you, but I would need to look through your memories first." Percy nodded his head and Hephaestus placed a hand on his shoulder and started chanting in the language of the ancients. When he was done he had a faraway look in his eyes as Hephaestus looked through his memories of Perseus, from his first quest all the way to the throne room meeting. When he finished the god of the forge had a solemn expression on his face, "You've had a hard life my boy, harder than any I've seen, and you have my respect for that. If you need a forge, you're more than welcome to use any of mine. Now, go make yourself comfortable in the room over there while I work on this shield for you. The bathroom is down on the left and there's mortal and Hephaestus TV channels on the televison." Percy nodded in thanks and away.

-0-

_Hunter's Camp, Third POV_

The hunters had been playing fetch with Zoë, using tennis balls from the backpack Zoë had retrieved from somewhere, they assumed it was Percy's bag but who knew with this wolf. Zoë had just come back with the ball when Artemis flashed in, the first thing Thalia noticed was the lack of her cousin. "Milady, where Percy? Did Kelp Head get himself killed already?" Thalia said, only slightly joking. Artemis just sighed in response, this was going to take a long time to explain, "Gather around the fire, my hunters, I shall tell you the events of the meeting."

-0-

_Hephaestus' Forge_

Percy had been watching the mortal news channel for the past few hours, it may sound boring to anyone else, but to Perseus - who had been missed out on the last decade of events in the world - it was the greatest thing ever. Hephaestus walked into the room where Perseus had been sitting, a somber expression still plastered across his face. "Come now lad, you probably want to see the final product." Percy quickly got up, obviously excited as to what the forge god could have made him, he guessed it was a shield but who knew with the Olympians.

"I apologize for the wait, I know you got places to be, but I wanted to make this extra special." Percy was shocked at the sincerness in his voice, he remembered Hephaestus to be a grumpy, impassive god. "I had only created something like this once before: The Shied of Achilles. I found the visage to be appropriate for this occasion." At Percy's confused expression he continued, "Achilles at the start of the war was excited for battle, but as the war progressed and blood was shed, he started longing for a life of peace. He was already planning on leaving the war before he did, Aggamemnon was just an excuse. It was mainly why I had put scenes of peace on his shield, but to respect his skill as a warrior, Thetis asked me to include some more violent aspects.

"Your shield will be a little different than his; instead of images of life outside the war, I decided to put what you are fighting for." Hephaestus pulled back the tarp that had covered what he called '_The Shield of Perseus'_ and took pride in the gasp that came from the young demigod. The shield was made of a mix of Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold, and Adamantine, it had hundreds of images on the face, from his time in the Yellowstone to present day; all of them in jaw dropping detail. He ran his hand over what depicted his time at Carkeek Park, sitting on the beach with Zoë at his side, reminiscing old times - the good times. Percy must've looked at the shield for over an hour, each image upon his shield making him more wistful for what was his life. "Thank you milord, this is a gift that I don't know if I ever could repay."

"Think nothing of it lad, think of it as compensation for what you've had to go through." Hephaestus said with a small smile, "Now. We best get you going, it's not the best idea to keep Artemis waiting, believe me on that." Percy nodded and grabbed the shield, strapping it over his back. Seeing he was ready Hephaestus flashed him away

-0-

_Hunter's Camp_

"-and then he left with Hephaestus, he's been with him since." Artemis had just finished telling her hunt about the council meeting, leaving not a single detail out. She looked around at the faces of her hunters, seeing varying levels of guilt in their eyes; them -like everyone else- had always thought Perseus to be infallible; unstobbable; the man with an unbreakable will; the great hero. Suddenly a bright flash of light filled the area, forcing the demigods to cover their eyes.

"Hey guys, what's everyone so upset about?" Percy said while trying to hold Zoë at bay. Thalia smiled to herself, once oblivious, always oblivious, "Nothing Perce, what did Hephaestus want?"

Percy suddenly had a look of longing in his eyes, "He forged me this shield, he calls it _The Shield of Perseus, _it was inspired by Achilles' shield." He said while pulling the shield off his back. Everyone gasped at the beauty of the shield, except for Thalia, who believed nothing was better than her Aeigis.

Artemis snapped the hunt out of their shock, "Hunters, it is time for bed. Persueus, we will get you better acquainted in the following morning." All of the hunters nodded and walked away from the campfire, leaving Percy alone with Artemis and Zoë. Percy scooted closer to the fire, taking in the warmth it provided while slightly leaning against Zoë for comfort. "It's okay girl," Percy said with a sigh, "we'll get through these few years, then we can go back home - where ever that may be." Percy hadn't intended for anyone to hear him, but Artemis' godly senses allowed her to pick up what he was saying easily. She got up, and walked away to her tent, leaving Perseus alone by the fire. All while mulling over his words and what he spoke during the council meeting.

**Well there you have it, over 3k words. Hope it satisfies you guys, the next one should be around the same length, maybe longer. Expect it to be out in a few days. **

**Let me get your guy's thoughts on something, where do you want the final battle to take place? I was thinking New York, kinda like TLO, I have some nice ideas going through with that, but hey you guys dictate what I write sooooo**

**Make sure to leave a review, anything and everything helps.**


	14. Chapter14

**Well here it is, Chapter 14. I'm going to be answering some questions people had at the end so don't skip it if you're confused about anything. If you don't want to put it as a review feel free to PM me.**

_Hunter's Camp, Third POV, The Next Morning_

Percy had woken up at the crack of dawn, feeling as tired as Clovis; having spent the entirety of last night talking to his father. Poseidon seemed to be okay with his little vanishing act, and they mostly just talked about the past few years. It was probably due to the fact that gods don't really have a sense of time, a decade to him is just a blink of an eye. Percy wanted to talk to his mom, he really did, but he couldn't bring himself to it.

Percy was shaken out of his thoughts by a large black wolf running up to him. "Seriously girl? you're hungry already?" Zoë just gave him her best puppy dog eyes, which for a wolf, is pretty damn good. "Alright, alright you win, just quit doing that," Percy looked up at the sun, seeing it won't be for a while the hunt will be up, "we might as well get the hunters some food too, it'd be a nice first impression." Zoë started bounding off towards to forest, obviously excited to be hunting so many animals. She can kill mostly anything in the forest, including a lot of monsters, but Percy would never let her fight them, he's scared of her being hurt or worse. Besides he was more than capable enough to handle them by himself.

———

The Hunters of Artemis were woken up by a heavenly smell. They followed the scent and what they found is something they wouldn't believe. Perseus was there, cooking at least four different types of animals at once, each one looking as delicious as the last. Percy, who hasn't noticed the hunters was trying to keep Zoë from eating all of the food, "Can you quit giving me that look? If I keep feeding you there won't be any left for the hunters, and I don't want a bunch of immortal, man hating preteens on my ass." Much to Percy's relief, Zoë relented.

Percy seemed to finally notice the hunters' presence and waved at them, "Food should be ready in a bit, hope you guys aren't vegetarians. Hey if you could get wherever you eat set up, that'd be appreciated." The hunters walked off to do just that, setting plates up at the dining tent, only Thalia remained. "Did you seriously go and hunt these?"

"Well yeah, where else would I get it?" Thalia looked at him as if he had grown a second head, "How long have you been up?" Percy gave her a lazy shrug, "I usually get up at first light, gives me a lot more time to be productive. Could you hand me that spice over there?" Thalia obliged, still slightly shocked. Percy Jackson, the man who couldn't wake up if his life depended on it, gets up at the crack of dawn. 

"If you want to go get a few plates, food should be done in a minute." Thalia just nodded, still really confused. Percy almost never cooked, he definitely didn't wake up early and he had never hunted in his life. She wondered what else had changed about her cousin.

Ten minutes later the hunters walked out of the dining tent with plates and utensils in hand, opting to eat right at the fire. Percy started handing out the food when one of the hunters, Olivia, spoke up "You do know that we have food in the dining tent right?"

Percy just shrugged, "Yeah I had a few guesses, but Zoë needed to eat. Besides, it's better to get you all on my good side early." He said, only half jokingly.

The hunters chuckled lightly, with a few of them agreeing with him, and started eating. They all relished the taste, enjoying the flavor of their chosen food. "Where did you learn how to cook Perce?" A confused Pheobe asked, "last time I checked, you blew up your oven baking cookies."

"I've had a few years to work on the recipe, it wasn't like I had a huge variety of food." He replied simply. Pheobe accepted his answer and went back to wolfing down her food. The hunters were enjoying their food, many going for seconds, until there was a bright flash of light, indicating the arrival of a god.

Artemis arrived to a strange sight. She had been expecting her hunters to be in the dining tent, where there was the magical plates and cups that conjures whatever food they wished. Instead she found them around the campfire, eating a variety of different meats. "You decided to cook?"

Her lieutenant, Thalia, shook her head and pointed to Perseus, who didn't seem to care. "Well that is unexpected. Anyways, hunters it's time to train, get down to the range."

"Hey, Artemis, what should I do?" A confused Percy asked. Artemis seemed to contemplate this, "I supose you could keep watch around the camp or train, it is really up to you." Percy decided to train and let Zoë patrol the border of the camp - she doesn't like staying still.

Percy walked around the hunter's camp, which was a lot bigger than you would think, trying to find their armory tent. Thalia had told him that they kept some automations, created by Hephaestus, for training. According to Thalia, they were some of the hardest things to fight, each sporting different weapons, techniques, and varying difficulties.

Percy finally found the tent, which was a lot bigger on the inside, probably due to some magic that he wouldn't understand. The walls were lined with bows, quivers and a large assortment of hunting knives. Against the back wall was a shelf packed with small, rectangular packets containing the automations. Percy looked them over, seeing the different pictures and difficulties plastered over the cover. Percy found one that had an assortment of weapons on the front with _'Legendary' _in bold letters. He decided to take that one incase the others were too easy, seeing that it was the only of its kind. Percy stayed there for a few more minutes, picking a variety of difficulties ranging from intermediate to expert.

Percy walked into a large clearing a little ways away from the camp, he didn't know how many opponents he would be facing on each training packet, and he would prefer to not be killed for accidentally destroying the hunter's camp.

He picked an intermediate packet and set the rest aside, this hopefully would provide a small challenge for a warmup. He took off his hunting jacket and Nemean Lion pelt, revealing Percy's bulging muscles under a thin t-shirt. He still had the same old cargo pants and military boots, having grown comfortable with their familiarity. Although he would probably need to get new clothes now, the hunters probably won't appreciate him wearing the same clothes all the time -no matter how adept he was at cleaning them.

As he was opening the packet a small speaker blared from somewhere on the wrapping, speaking in a robotic voice, "Please drop the Hephaestus Training Packet and stand _20 feet_ _away _from the landing point." Percy listened to the voice and watched in fascination as mechanical spiders crawled out of this opening he created. The spiders all spread out, leaving two or three feet in between each other and started growing. When they finished they had changed into humanoid figures, each sporting a different weapon; ranging from swords to maces.

Percy did a headcount, there was about twenty automations in total, it seemed that with each foot required to step away, an enemy would appear. "The Hephatus Training Program will begin in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." As the voice counted down, the automations had sprung to life. Percy wasted no time in uncapping _Riptide_ and went on the offensive.

Percy cut through the automations with no difficulty. If he was going to be honest, he was a little disappointed, he had hoped it would give him some kind of challenge but it only served to be a waste of time.

————

Percy had just opened the master difficulty packet and was slightly wary. His last fight had been on expert mode, and while the skill of the automations hadn't been anything to get excited about, the numbers were. There had been over a hundred automations in total, and, thankfully, the size to stay back had decreased. It seemed that the easier packets were made with less care and Hephaestus seemed to care less with how the automations were placed about. Percy ripped open the envelope and the same robotic voice blared through the paper, "Please drop the Hephaestus Training Packet and stand _75 feet_ away from the landing point." This set Perseus on edge, the last one had only asked for him to stay 50 feet.

Percy watched as the spiders skittered across the floor and the now familiar growing process commence. "The Hephaestus Training Program will begin in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." Percy brought out his spear and shield, having used _Riptide _for the past few programs. He took a second to look back onto the shield once more, reminiscing about better times with Zoë. Percy snapped himself out of his reverie and prepared for the horde of metal about to crash into him.

As the automations were ten feet away, he ran forward and jumped into their lines, thrusting his spear downwards and shish-kabobing two of the training bots. The machines had immediately shrunk back down to their spider size - to stimulate how monsters turn to dust - and skittered away. Percy held his shield up to block a strike from his left while impaling another automation to his right. He had to be constantly changing his direction to block and stab the ever lasting army of automations; using his shield to bash anything that got too close and his spear to kill anything that landed in his sights; his attacks coming out so fast that to anyone watching they would only see a blur where he had moved.

The remaining fifty or so automations seemed to get that they wouldn't be able to get through Percy's impenetrable defense and backed up, forming a circle around the demigod. Two automations stepped out the circle and attacked in sync, trying to kill him from opposite sides. Percy rolled under their attacks, forcing the momentum of one of the automations to drive its spear through the other. Percy came up and slammed his shield so hard into the remaining one that it's head came off. Percy, who was sick of being forced onto the defensive, slashed his spear through two unsuspecting robots and slammed his shield into a third; three more spiders skittered away from the field. He turned and slammed the butt of his spear into another and brought it back forward, knocking one to the ground and 'killing' another.

Percy continued fighting for another ten minutes, running through the last of the automations with unmatched skill. Percy took a minute to catch his breath and took the legendary difficulty packet out of his pocket. He looked up to the sky and realized that he missed lunch, '_oh well_,' he thought, '_it wouldn't be the first time' _thankfully Zoë knows to go get food by herself if Percy doesn't go hunting with her.

Percy looked over the packet and this one was way larger than the rest, at least double the size of the all of the packets combined. Well at least it's great training. Percy ripped the pack open and was met with the same robotic voice, "Please drop the Hephaestus Training Program and stand 250 _feet _away from the landing point. Hephaestus TV will be broadcasting this training session to record your inevitable failure." Before Percy could begin to question what that meant, the spiders started pouring out of the packet, this time, a small drone had followed. Percy assumed that is what would be recording his 'inevitable failure'.

As the countdown finished, Percy took a step back and slung his spear like a professional football quarterback; the spear traveling through at least twenty automations before landing in the dirt. Percy uncapped _Riptide _and let loose a war cry, charging the army awaiting him. Percy fought like a demon, moving through the seemingly thousands of automations with grace. He had to give Hephaestus credit, these were putting up a good fight, some of them being able to hold their own for a few seconds - which was longer than anything he had fought in recent years. Little did Perseus know, he had an audience besides people tuning in to Hephaestus TV watching him.

Percy slashed through one automation and dodged the axe of another; turning around he lobbed two heads off with one swing before turning to his left to block a swing of a great sword with his shield. Percy continued to carve a path in the sea of Celestial Bronze, literally cleaving their robotic ranks in half. Percy never wasted a swing of his sword; each hit being directed to kill efficiently and effectively. As he looked back into the hundreds of remaining automations, Percy let out a laugh, this was going to be fun.

Percy was moving through their robotic ranks, cutting down one automation after another. His mind went on autopilot: stab, dodge, slash, block, bash, parry, cut, roll. Percy's sword and shield were extensions of his own body, moving as if he used them his whole life; which is partially true.

As Percy cut down the last automation, he promptly collapsed on the ground, drenched in sweat. He looked up at sky and was shocked as he realized it was night time; he had been fighting for at least nine hours nonstop. Percy heard clapping, he looked over to his right and saw Thalia and the hunters, "Nice job Kelp Head, nobody has been able to beat that yet, not even Ares. Not all of us would admit it, but we weren't even able to beat it working as a group." Percy looked around and saw some of the hunters reluctantly nodding in agreement with their lieutenant, not wanting to admit out loud that a single man was able to do what they couldn't together. "Well if it makes you guys feel any better, Ares isn't much of a fighter. That lame excuse for a war god couldn't even beat a twelve year old." Percy said with a slight smirk. Thunder boomed over head, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! Keep talking Ares and I'll march up to Olympus myself." Thunder boomed again, this time slightly less aggressive. Even the headstrong and ever prideful god of war was wary of the demigod after the show of strength seen on Hephaestus TV.

"Does anyone want to give me a hand here?" Percy said from his spot on the ground. Thalia and Pheobe rolled their eyes and went to help him up; boys can't even get up by themselves.

"Someone please tell me you guys have food for Zoë, I really don't want to go hunting with her; she always tries to kill everything and it's not the easiest thing in the world to hold back an over 160 pound wolf from chasing a squirrel. I swear she's more dog than wolf..." The hunters all laughed loudly at that, seeing the similarities between the fearsome wolf and common housepet. One of the hunters, Alexandra, pointed towards the tent they kept the food for their wolves in. Percy realized he must smell awful from fighting for so long and extended his senses, looking for a stream of water to wash up. He found one about a mile away and excused himself.

Fifteen minutes later Percy arrived back at the camp, freshly washed and completely dry. Percy walked into the dining tent wordlessly and came out with a plate and cup. Percy appreciated that the hunters at least accepted his presence in their camp but he didn't want to push his limits by eating with them. He doubted they would care that much, but he still wanted to respect their privacy. He walked down to the campfire, magically enchanted to be everlasting, and sat down on a log. Percy used the magical plate to conjure a cheeseburger - oh how he missed thes, and looked at the glass cup with a small smile on his face: blue cherry coke. Percy enjoyed his meal, sitting with Zoë and looking up at the stars thinking '_maybe this won't be so bad'_ . Soon enough, he returned his plate back to the dining tent and walked into the tent the hunters had set up for him, on the other side of the camp of course. Zoë soon followed and them both fell fast asleep.

**Well there it is another long chapter, how'd you guys like it? Answering questions below, Question 2 is actually relative to the story.**

**_1\. Why is the villain Ouranos? Shouldn't he like Percy for defeated Gaea and Kronos? _**

**Well I used Ouranos because he was a different character than Kronos, Gaea, or Tartarus rising. As for why he doesn't like them, it's because he was a tyrannical ruler and wants his new rule to be absolute. I might have him be a nice guy in a new story I'm thinking up.**

**_2\. Why does it take 3 times for the spear to cause an immortal to fade? How did they find out? _**

**Well this is actually funny because it's not true. I have plans for this specific question but now isn't the _time _or chapter :P**

**_3\. Why hasn't Zoë had any pups?_**

**Well do you seriously think Percy would allow another wolf to get close to his best friend and companion?**

**_4\. Why was nobody able to I.M him? And could the gods not sense him?_**

**Well to be able to I.M someone you would have to know their specific location, seeing that nobody knew where he was (besides Lupa in his first few years) they couldn't get him. The gods would be able to sense him but (re read if you forgot) they were instructed to leave him alone.**

**_5\. Why did the monsters stop attacking Percy? Did it make the lifes harder for other demigods? _**

**They stopped attacking him because they were too scared to. Would you want to go running towards your death? As for the other demigods probably not seeing as they aren't being sent on as many quests since they're always being killed or injured. **

**_6\. Can he control snow/ice and vapor/mist travel?_**

**Yes he can control all aspects of water. No I decided to not give him vapor/mist travel, I think it's too cliche of an ability.**

**Make sure to leave a review, anything and everything helps :P**


	15. Chapter15

**So here's chapter 15. Really appreciate the support you guys are giving this story, lmk if you want me to write another. Enjoy :D**

_Camp Halfblood, 1 Week Later (Third POV)_

The campers were getting ready to leave to the party on Olympus, celebrating the first person to beat the Hephaestus Legend Challenge. All of the campers were curious as to who could have beaten it, the footage gave no indication as to who it could've been, and the man was moving too fast to get a good look at.

Nobody however, had pondered over the mystery man more than Annabeth Chase, who had sworn the sword was the fabled _Riptide, _but she knew it couldn't have been him; last they've heard, Percy had been living in happy solitude, not with the Hunters of Artemis. Over the years, Annabeth had become shunned by nearly everyone at the camp, only her siblings and Chiron still talked to her. Speaking of the old centaur, "Chiron, have the gods revealed who the man is? This party is for him and we don't even know who he is."

Chiron sighed, this was the nineteenth time Annabeth has asked this today, "No child, as I've said multiple times before, he has chosen to remain anonymous. Perhaps you will be able to talk to him there." Annabeth has picked up on the underlying frustration in his voice and decided to leave the matter alone for now, she would get the opportunity to find out later.

———

_Manhattan, New York_

"Come on Perce, you can't go to a party in camouflage." Thalia has been trying to convince her cousin of going to get some new clothes for the party for nearly an hour. "Dear gods Thalia, if I go shopping would you leave me alone?"

"Like hell I am, you would probably go buy more camo, I'm coming with you." Percy sighed, that was actually what he was planning to do. "Fine, but where are we even going to get the money to buy the clothes?" Thalia just grinned and pulled out a silver credit card, "Perks of being a lieutenant, come on Kelp Head, Broadway is this way." Percy let out another exasperated sigh, this was going to be a long day.

…

They had ended up going to two stores for Percy, the Nike Soho and Express; getting him some dark blue jeans, a black hoodie and a pair of black Air Jordan 12s. "Well I got to admit Fish for Brains, you don't look half bad, now all you got to do is shave and visit your mom, then we'd be good to go." Percy nearly choked on the soda he was drinking at the mention of visiting his mom, "Come on Perce it's been over a decade since you last saw her, besides you'd be in for a little surprise while you're there," Thalia said with a smirk. Percy relented, seeing that it probably was about time he saw him mom, "One condition: the beard stays."

They had walked for about an hour, ending up in front of the door to the Blofis apartment, where Percy was having trouble with bringing himself to knock on the door; so Thalia did it for him. After what seemed to be the longest minute in Percy's life the familiar face of Sally Jackson appeared in the door, she had aged well, still retaining her young features but now with some grey in her hair. "Oh hi Thalia, how have you been? And who is -" At seeing the man next to Thalia she froze, a mother could never forget the eyes of her first child, "Percy?"

Percy just nodded, not trusting his voice. Before he knew it he was crushed in a hug strong enough to make him feel as if ribs would break under the pressure. What's up with his family and strong hugs? "Mommy who's this man?" Sally pulled away from the hug and wiped tears away from her eyes, looking at the bubbling eight year old in the apartment, "Estelle. This is your older brother, Percy Jackson." Both newfound siblings started firing off questions.

"I have a sister?"

"The super cool hero dude?"

"How old is she?"

"He's real?"

"Is there any more?"

"He has a cool beard."

"Where's Paul?"

"Can I go get a cookie?"

"You have cookies?"

Sally and Thalia both started cracking up at Perseus' childish antics. "Yes Percy, lets go inside and I'll take them out the oven. Paul should be home in a little, and I expect you to behave."

Sally said, her motherly side showing a little.

…

Percy was about to walk out the bathroom when he heard keys jingling in the door, Paul was home. Percy walked into the living room and plopped onto the couch wordlessly, giving Paul a small wave. Paul, who looked flabbergasted, "Sally, who is this?" Percy, who apparently had become a lot more childish after eating a cookie said, "Wow Paul, you don't see your stepson for a few years so you replace him and forget his face. How rude."

Paul recomposed himself and after a quick promise to explain everything sat down. Percy spent the next five hours exchanging stories with his parents, often using his shield to go in detail about the places he's been. Percy wanted to keep talking but noticed that it was getting late and quickly excused himself and Thalia; he spent all that time shopping for the party, he was not going to be late for it.

Percy and Thalia quickly sprinted down the stairs and out the apartment, both wondering how they were going to get to Olympus in time. Percy quickly let out a long, piercing whistle, praying that he was in the area. Faster than ever before, a black blur came speeding down towards them '_Boss! You're alive?! You wouldn't believe how hard it's been to get the other demigods to give me a donut; I've had to resort to robbing churro stands!' _

After a small exchange with Blackjack agreeing to take them to Olympus in exchange for an explanation of where Perseus has been and a donut. Percy was seriously considering writing a book at this point, it'd be a lot easier than explaining where's he been thousands of times. Thalia slightly wary of getting on Blackjack, even though she's relatively gotten over her fear of heights, she doesn't trust her power over the winds that much.

They arrived in the Temple of Dionysus just in time for the party to begin. The temple had been converted to a large bar for the veteran demigods and gods; much to the excitement of Dionysus, who's ban on alchohol has been temporarily lifted.

Percy and Thalia walked and scanned the room for the occupants only rest The Hunters, a few minor gods, and the Olympian council there so far; no doubt the older demigods and more minor gods would be arriving soon.

…

The two camps had arrived at Olympus relatively at the same time, with both of them meeting each other infront of the temple before walking in. While most demigods went to a table or to the dance floor, Annabeth Chase stood still, scanning the room for the man of the hour; the man who was able to beat the challenge.

She found the man at the bar, aimlessly chatting with a hunter while sipping some kind of blue drink. How did this man even become friends with the hunters; they usually weren't the friendliest people with males and this guy is apparently staying in their camp.

As Annabeth walked towards the guy, to maybe try some kind of identification of whoever he was, she noticed every single one of the hunters were glaring at her. _'Apparently Percy was their hero as well' _she thought. _'People seriously need to get over that. It was over 10 years ago!' _

As Annabeth neared him, the hunter he had been chatting with whispered something to him and walked away. The man nodded and stared off into space while sipping every now and then on his drink. Annabeth tapped his shoulder and he turned around, "Oh. It's you." He said in disgust, "could've sworn I left this part of my life a decade ago."

You could visibly see the gears turning in Annabeth's head, scanning this mystery man and trying to decipher who this could be. She didn't know any sea green eyed or raven haired men except for -"Percy?"

All talking immediately stopped at the mention of his name, "Well whoop-de-do, it's Annabeth Chase. Never really thought I'd have to see you again but you know how my luck is - Tyche always was a bitch to me. Why don't you go to the other side of the bar and leave me alone Chase. I've had a nice night so far, and I need anything annoying me right now. You can ask Ares how that worked out for him if you stop by Apollo's temple." Percy said, pointing to the ichor on the ground. Annabeth immediately noticed the lack of the war god and back away from Percy as fast as possible.

Perseus just sighed and put his coke down, "Bartender, get me something alcoholic, I don't care what, just make it blue. I'm going to need it if people keep coming up to me." The bartender, some random satyr, just nodded wordlessly and handed him a glass bottle, "You guys seriously have pre-made blue drinks? Dionysus may be useless, but he sure does know how to throw a party."

"I heard that Perry!" A drunken Dionysus shouted from across the room. "You were meant to you alcoholic!" In his drunk state, Dionysus seemed to forget what happened to Ares and walked up to Perseus, who had gone back to staring off in space and sipping his drink, "Who do you think you are talking to like that Pedro? I am a god!" Percy ignored Dionysus and continued to sip his drink, which only served to anger Dionysus more. The wine god's anger grew with each second of being ignored, finally it seemed he had enough and punched Percy in the back of the head.

Percy slowly got off the stool he was sitting on and faced Dionysus. "I'm going to give you one warning: you don't want to have me as an enemy." Dionysus just snorted, "I am a god! I have nothing to fear from a single, lowly demigod who couldn't even keep his girlfriend loyal to him." Percy snapped and held out his hand, soon enough, his spear came flying through the door. Dionysus seemed to sober up at the sight of the weapon, even he was not ignorant to the abilities of the weapon and its owner. "Now, now Perry, lets not do anything rash. I'll just go back over to my side of the bar and leave you alone."

As Dionysus was walking away, Percy jabbed his spear through his leg, unleashing the spears true, devastating power. Dionysus went down in a scream of pain, desperately trying to take the spear out of his calf. "Let me help you with that." Percy said, twisting _Time's March _while pulling it out. Across the room, you could see Hermes and Apollo exchanging drachmas, who had obviously expected -as did all the other gods- the exchange and made bets. After dishing out his drachmas, Apollo walked over to Dionysus crying form. "Seriously cuz? At this rate we'll be out of Olympians before the end of the night." Percy, who had sat back down as if nothing happened, "He pushed the line, and Ares had it coming." He said, not a care in the world. "He's lucky I didn't kill him now. The only reason I haven't is because he'd probably switch over to the other side down in Tartarus, and I really don't feel like having to kill him twice. Not today at least." Leaving the conversation on that happy note, Percy went back to sipping his drink. Apollo nodded, wary of the demigod's sour mood, and flashed Dionysus away to his temple.

Poseidon walked up towards the front of the stage and tapped the microphone, getting everyone's attention, "Thank you this will only take a second of your time. I would like to get a round of applause for my son, Perseus Jackson! For beating the Hephaestus Legend Challenge on his first attempt, and for uniting all of us here today." All eyes turned to Percy, who just raised his glass bottle, still facing away from everyone; eliciting a cheer from the crowd. Some looked like they wanted to go and congratulate or talk to him, but as they saw him fiddling with his spear shaft they decided it was best to leave him alone for a while; despite most of them not knowing what the spear can do, they all saw what it did to Dionysus.

Thalia, who knew she had nothing to fear from her cousin, went up and started chatting with him - neither of them having a care in the world. Across the room, Jason, Leo, Piper, Frank and Hazel sat, watching their old friend with interest. "I think wherever he's been has changed him." A worried Piper said. Hazel, who always looked up to Percy like he was an older brother, was quick to deny this, "I don't think so, I think Dionysus just ticked him off; he always did hate him." After a moment of indecision she continued, "I'm going to talk to him, see whether he actually changed or not."

Thalia had gone back towards the hunters, leaving Percy alone, taking small sips from drink. He heard the footsteps of someone walking towards him and when he turned around he was met with a golden eyed, cinnamon brown haired girl in her late twenties. A smile slowly creeped onto his face, "Hey Haze, hows life been treating you?" Hazel was always like the little sister that he never had - well, back then at least. A similar smile appeared across her face as well, he hadn't changed that much, "It's been well, Frank and I got married a few years ago." She said holding up her left hand, showcasing the ring she had. "Well that's just amazing! Are there any little pudgy Asain, Canadian baby men running around?"

"Oh my gods! Percy! Don't say that, you're so embarrassing." Hazel said completely flustered and fanning her face. Percy smiled even wider at that, she's still old fashioned. "Hey Hazel, do you still like animals?" Hazel noted the mischevious tone in his voice and was slightly wary, "Yes?" Percy let out a short, high pitched whistle and leaned back against the bar table, facing the door. As Hazel was about to ask what that was about, the door burst open, revealing a huge black wolf that started bounding towards them. Hazel let out a girlish scream, eliciting a laugh from Percy, who was trying to keep Zoë from licking his face. "Well Haze, I didn't know you were a little girl. Anyways meet Zoë, she's basically my best friend, pet and companion all rolled into one. But she's also so much more than that."

Hazel looked at him as if he grew a second head, "You have a wolf as a pet?!" Percy gave a indifferent shrug, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, "Yeah she's been with me since I hand fed her down in Yellowstone. You wanna pet her?" Hazel suddenly looked really excited, "Oh my gods can I?" Hazel started scratching Zoë behind her ears. Zoë plopped down on the ground and layed on her back, asking for a belly rub. Hazel obliged and let out a small squeal, "Who's a good girl? You are. Yes you are. She's just the cutest thing ever, what's her name?" Percy just smirked, now he was going to have her asking Frank for a pet wolf, "Her name's Zoë. Just don't go scratching her legs, she hates that, but anywhere else she absolutely loves."

As the wolf had burst through the door, Frank and the rest of the seven -or five, whatever- were immediately set on edge. As the wolf started running towards Hazel, Frank had been ready to turn into a dragon and rip it apart; the only thing that stopped him was Percy's sudden laughter. They watched the exchange between the two old friends in amusement before they decided to join them. Percy noticed them immediately and gave them a small wave, "Hey Pipes, Superman, Repair Boy, Frank, hows it going?" Frank frowned, "Why don't I get a nickname?"

"Well if I'm going to be _Frank _with you, I couldn't think of one." Percy said with a smirk. "I think we're going to stay as really good friends Perce." Leo said while wrapping his arm around Percy's shoulder, which was impressive since Perseus towered over Leo's 5'8" frame. "Well enjoy it while it lasts, because I probably won't see you guys again after today."

This caused all of the demigods to freeze, "Wait why not?" A frantic Piper said. Percy gave her a nonchalant shrug, "I was happy where I was," he said while sipping his drink, "if you want to go outside, where it's a little more quiet, I can tell you guys some more." They all nodded and walked out of the temple/bar combo; Zoë in toll.

"Well like I said, I was happy where I was." Percy said, pulling his shield off his back, giving it a look over and sighing before putting it back on his back. "I was at peace -even with all the monsters attacking me- there was nobody who could tell me what to do, no gods, no world ending prophecies and no never ending quests. Besides the company was great." He said, petting Zoë on the head. His friends looked at him with sympathy and slight curiosity, it was Jason who spoke up, "Well why did you come back? And what's up with that shield?"

"I came back because I didn't really have a choice, Ouranos is rising, as I'm sure you all know. He's been sending legions of monsters in attempts to kill me, that wasn't really a problem though. It was Artemis who found me, completely on accident by the way, and brought me back to Olympus. I've been staying with the hunt for a week now, under Zeus' orders." Percy pulled his shield off his back and had a wistful look in his eyes, "As for my shield, it was a gift from Hephaestus, it's called _The Shield of Perseus_, it was inspired from _The Shield of Achilles. _It shows me my most peaceful moments in my life - what I have to fight for."

Jason has nodded in understanding, "What about your spear, I've never seen anything like that ever before." Percy held out his hand and his spear came flying into it, "This is _Time's March. _Named after the flow of time; it can be sped up, slowed down, redirected, but never stopped. It was once Kronos' symbol of power; his infamous sycthe before it became my spear. And before you ask, no, it won't rip your soul out; well unless I want it to, then it can."

They just stared at his spear in shock, not being able to comprehend what they were looking at. This was the sycthe of the Titan Lord, The Crooked One, the father of the Big Three, and now it belonged to the greatest demigod in history.

After getting over their initial shock, they all started chatting aimlessly, trying to enjoy what could possibly be their last day seeing Perseus Jackson, their best friend. While the camps had left early into the night, Percy had stayed late at the bar; taking small sips of his drink and thinking about his life and how much he longed for this war to be over. Alas, he knew that was a fools wish, he may have the weapon of the Titan Lord, but he did not have his abilities.

And so, Perseus sat there, reminiscing by his lonesome, making wishes of peace that will never be granted. Men like him were not made for a peaceful life; he was a warrior, the greatest ever, and The Fates would rather fade before they let him be.

**Well there's chapter 15. What did you guys think of the orgin of _Time's March_? It took me a long ass _time_ to think of the name when I first made the story so y'all better like it xD**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the longest chapter of the story - about 4K words. ****Make sure to leave a review, anything and everything helps.**


	16. Chapter16

**Here it is, chapter 16, more QA down at the bottom. Enjoy :D**

_Atlantis, 1 Year Later, Third POV_

Percy Jackson was in the arena, training hard in preparation for the war; he's been staying here for the past few months as the hunt had gone around recruiting, they didn't want him driving away any new recruits. Many people in the ancient, underwater city would argue that there was no point to him training, that he was already at the peak of his powers, but Percy knew better, he knew that there was no limit to his abilities; The Fates had made sure of that. In light of his never ending improvement, the denizens of Atlantis had started calling him Ο Περσέας ο Ανυπαίτιος or Perseus the Indomitable - which many people saw as fitting for his capabilities.

Percy was practicing his newfound power: water travel. It was similar to children of Hades' shadow travel, being able to travel through any body of water to reach another. All bodies of water -no matter how big or small- are one and the same, water travel is just a means to transport himself between the two. However, Percy has discovered that he can only travel to water in it's liquid state; water vapor, steam and ice are, for gods know what reasons, are incompatible.

Percy took a deep breath and focused, channeling his power into the water all around him. Percy pictured the Empire State Building in his mind and disappeared, reappearing jumping out of a puddle infront of the building. Percy let out a reliever sigh, it worked this time. The first time he had tried to jump out of a puddle, he ended up Tilsit Lake, Morocco and passed out for a day. Since then Perseus had promised himself that he will practice and train until he could travel around the world with a thought.

Percy decided to go up on Olympus and walk around, he didn't really have anything to do anyways. As Percy went up the elevator, which was playing Stairway To Heaven on repeat -seriously Apollo? He started to wonder about Zoë, he had left her with the hunt on the basis that wolves probably don't belong underwater. He hadn't realized how much he depended on Zoë for company; sure he'd joke about it but he never realized how much truth those words held. Percy doesn't know what had given Zoë to him, but he was forever indebted to them; unless it was The Fates, he'd call it even then.

As the elevator doors opened, Percy took a long look at the city that was Olympus. It was still as breathtakingly beautiful as when he first saw it; as much as he hated Annabeth's guys, he had to give her props - she did a good job. As Percy wandered through the streets, he let his mind wander to what the future could hold. _What could Ouranos have in store for the war? What immortals will be taking his side? Have any of his primordial siblings woken up? _One question however, kept repeating over and over again in his mind, _will the Olymians even let me be when all is said and done? That had got Percy thinking the most,__ was it even worth it fighting if he was going to be kept on ball and chain after? What reasons do I have to fight besides them being my family? What shit show will this war get me into this time?_

Percy was pulled out of his thoughts by a wall of water appearing infront of him - Poseidon's newest way of calling him; some god must've told Poseidon he was here. Percy let out an exasperated sigh and walked into the wall of water, water traveling himself to his father's throne room.

As Percy entered the throne room, he noticed something was off: his father wasn't here. "I'm in need of your help Perseus." Percy looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Are you going to allow me the pleasure of seeing who wants my help, or are you just going to be brooding in some corner evil villain style?" Triton materialized ten feet away from Perseus, "Seriously Tri? You're more dramatic than Zeus."

"Hush Perseus, what I need to tell you is best not released to the public. Follow me." Percy nodded and started following Triton as he walked down a corridor; seeing the possible gravity of the situation. As they walked through a door, two heavily armed guards appeared behind them and closed the doors, "We can't have any possible eavesdroppers." Triton explained quickly. "Our father believes that Oceanus - or some other sea god - is on the rise."

"What do you mean by: some other sea god?" Percy asked confusedly. Triton looked frustrated, "Think Perseus, Ouranos is rising, other Protogenoi could be awakening as well." It suddenly clicked in Percy's head, "Hydros and Pontus."

"Our father believes it to be Oceanus as Hydros and Pontus were among the first to fade. However we need to prepare for the worst, if in the case that any of these dieties are entering the war, the House of Poseidon won't be able to help."

Percy let that information sink in; the gods will be fighting without Poseidon once again. Percy needed time to mull this over, so he went to do the one thing that gives him clarity: fighting.

…

Percy was seriously considering changing his definition of clarity. He was also seriously considering incorporating calamari into his diet once this fight was over. Currently, he was fighting a hundred foot kracken, strong enough to tear ships apart with ease.

Percy dodged out the way of one of the beast's monstrous tentacles and water travelled to the body of the beast. The kracken, who was too busy trying to dislodge its tentacle from the ground it embedded itself in, didn't notice Perseus until it was too late.

With one fell swoop, Perseus cut off multiple tentacles. As the kracken shrieked in pain, Percy continued cutting more and more tentacles off with _Riptide; _each limb turning into an all too familiar golden dust. When Perseus had cut off the last tentacles of the gargantuan sized beast, he moved safely to the monster's head and pulled _Time's March _off his back. With one swift throw, the spear cut cleanly through the tough it's tough skin, going straight through its brain and out the other side. The kracken, with one final screech of pain, dissolved into gold dust. Percy summoned his spear back to his hand and started heading off to his father's palace, pondering what will become of him in the future and enjoying the simple beauty of his father's domain. Hopefully the hunt will be done with their recruitment soon, as much as Percy liked salt water, he missed Zoë.

———

It had been a long time since Percy was excited as he was now. He was rejoining the hunt somewhere out in Oregon, he doesn't know exactly where they are but he doesn't care. Apparently they were intending to meet up at the John Day River, which doesn't really help with his search -considering the fact the river is nearly 300 miles long - but Percy was too happy to care.

As elated as Percy was, he still kept his senses sharp, being all too familiar with the dangers that lurk in the least suspecting places. As he continued walking, he noticed the eerie silence that has taken the riverside; the only sound coming off the river itself. As Percy continued, alarms well blaring off in his head, he had a bad feeling of about what was to come, and he has learned to never go against his instincts.

Uncapping _Riptide_, he continued to follow the river upstream, listening for the slightest sound. Percy walked into a part of the forest that looked similar to where Thalia had IM'd him and what he found there put him on edge: footprints. And lots of them, most of them monster tracks, but there was no blood - thankfully.

Percy followed the footprints to a cave that couldn't have been natural, nor could it have been random. If this was an attack on the hunt, it was well planned out.

"Ah little hunters, no mistress to save you and no 'Indomitable Hero' to save the day. I would have _plans_ for you but alas, you hunters are part of a much larger scheme. A new dawn is over the horizon, and I will be the guiding light." Percy knew that voice, but he couldn't match it to the face.

"Can you stop it with the puns? We get it you're an overgrown lightbulb, now let me be with this headache." Percy had to let out a small smile at that, of course it'd be Thalia who complains about a headache while being held hostage. Percy pondered how he could go about killing whoever was in the cave. He couldn't cause an earthquake and collapse the entire system, that'd kill the hunters, nor could he flood it, again, killing the hunters. He probably wouldn't be able to use ice shards, too risky, he doesn't know where the hunters are located and he could hit them on accident. It seems like he would be going about this mano e mano, sword to whatever they have in there.

"Why you insolent girl, I ought to cut out your tongue for that. Do you know who I am? I am Hyperion, the Lord of Dawn, The Titan of the East. Tremble before me lowly demigod."

Percy decided to make his presence known before things got too out of hand, "You were also a very nice maple tree, but hey, who am I to tell you about your domains." Hyperion turned towards him so fast Perseus thought he might get whiplash, "You! I have not forgotten that insult; you will beg for a quick death. I will burn your innards out every morning, and watch as y- what are you doing?" Percy had started yawning, seemingly bored with how this conversation is going. In reality the yawn had the effect he wanted, angering Hyperion and giving him some time to scan the cavern. Percy had noticed the shadows strategically spread around the corners of the room, likely for easy access for hellhounds. Other than that - and the hunters in the corner - the room was completely empty.

"Here's the thing glo-stick, I really don't care for your threats; besides, you're a lot less creative with your threats than some of the other people I've met. Like seriously you've had, what, 12 years, and you still can't think of anything more creative than burning me?" This seemed to anger Hyperion even more and he pulled his sword out of its sheathe, "Enough talk demigod, I will end you."

Percy ran at Hyperion, sword and shield in hand, Hyperion met his charge with equal fervor, yelling something about aquarium pets and holding his hand and a half sword in a two hand grip, his golden armor shining as bright as the sun.

Percy met his first strike with his shield, easily blocking the Titan's swing, much to his surprise. Percy pushed his shield, knocking Hyperion's arms up and exposing his body. Percy capitalized on his mistake and stabbed _Riptide_ deep into Hyperion's left shoulder. Hyperion howled in pain and slammed his sword hilt into the ground unleashing a wave of power, launching Perseus into the wall; likely breaking something, but Percy didn't bother checking what, it'd do him no good currently.

"You want to play that game again? Fine by me." Percy said as he slammed his shield into the ground releasing his own, stronger, wave of power, knocking Hyperion to the ground and shaking the foundations of the cave. Percy threw _Riptide _aside and ran over to Thalia, he pulled his knife off his thigh and started cutting her loose, "Free your hunters and get out, I'll deal with britelite and meet you on the other side." Thalia nodded, knowing Percy for far too long to know he wouldn't be moved on this.

Percy pulled _Time's March_ off his back, and allowed for its true capabilities to be on display. The spear started glowing an ethereal gold in the darkness of the cave, a feature that was either something new, or something that he had yet to notice; likely the former. He'd have to think about that later, for now, he has a Titan to kill.

Percy faced Hyperion, who was just getting up, and got into his stance, waiting patiently for his foe to fight. As Hyperion charged, Perseus braced himself. Percy parried his attack with his shield and stabbed his spear into the ancient immortal's chest, eliciting another howl of pain. This time however, it seemed that the spear had ripped any fight out of the Titan, who had collapsed on the ground in pain, desperately clutching at the spear in his chest. Percy decided to end his misery, and thrusted _Time's March_ straight into his opponents neck, killing him instantly.

What happened next was something Perseus had never seen before. As Hyperion died, a golden light shot straight into the chest of Percy, causing him to cry out in pain. Apparently the Titan had wanted to get the last laugh, or so Perseus thought. As Hyperion crumbled into a new ebony dust, his set of armor remained, transforming into a similar shade of black as its former owner's dust. As Percy touched the armor, a black ethereal glow started emitting from it and Percy watched in fascination as the armor changed into a set of Spartan hoplite armor, a black plume going down the back of the helmet with various designs of the sun engraved on each piece. At further inspection it seemed the armor was made for his bulking 6'5" frame. Percy picked the helmet up and put it on, seeing that it fit him perfectly. The armor, including the helmet he was currently wearing, started glowing again, forcing Perseus to close his eyes. When Percy felt the lack of weight on his head he opened them again and was shocked at the revelation.

On his neck was a gold necklace with a sun charm. On the sun rays of the charm read, το τέλος του φωτός or _Light's End. _Fitting for the events that had transpired today. Percy instinctively pulled on the charm and watched in fascination as a shadow descended over him and his new armor appeared over his body; it felt as light as a feather and, upon testing, allowed him complete flexibility. Percy wondered about how his armor would disappear into the charm and as if it was listening, it vanished and his new piece of jewelry appeared on his neck.

Percy walked out of the cave, feeling energized by the introduction of light, and was met by about 20 girls clad in silver. He recognized most of them, but there were three that Percy couldn't place, he guessed these were the new recruits they had picked up over the past few months. "Well it's nice to see you girls again, where's Zoë?"

Thalia faked hurt, "Wow, you're kidnapped and your own cousin doesn't even check on you and is more worried about his wolf. Boys."

"Well excuse me for having my priorities straight," Percy deadpanned, getting a few laughs from Pheobe, Alexandra and some of the other hunters. Percy was sick of waiting for an answer and let out a high pitched whistle, forcing most of the hunters to shut their ears.

Percy was met with the familiar sound of pounding feet on the dirt and was soon slammed to the ground with a giant wolf licking his face and crushing his lungs, "Zoë... can't... breathe..." Thankfully Monica, a daughter of Hermes, had heard him and was able to get the giant wolf off him.

Percy turned to face the new hunters, "Well hi, I'm Percy Jackson, I really hope you haven't heard about me." Percy said with pointed looks towards Thalia, Pheobe, Alexia, Jenna and a few more hunters; each of them tried to look innocent but failed miserably. Percy let out a long, exaggerated groan, "It's like I have a book written about me with how much you guys tell stories."

Thalia started smirking, "Well sorry Perce, it's kinda hard to not talk about the 'Indomitable One' or the 'Greatest Demigod of All Time' or the-"

"Have mercy on my humility! Gods I'm going to die of attention." Percy said dramatically, cutting Thalia off. "We're Greek Demigods, our entire race is a legend; do you seriously think we won't make legends of our own? And the next time you cut me off I'll shock you so hard you won't feel your nerves for a week" Thalia said, sending a small shock to Percy that seemed to hurt a lot more than it should've, "Broken ribs, throw me in the river." Percy said as he blacked out. Thalia just laughed at his misfortune and dragged him to the water, where he'd likely stay for the rest of the night.

**Well there you have it, chapter 16. Really sorry for the late update, like I said earlier I hit some serious writers block and had a busy week in general. **

**QandA below!**

**Hope you enjoyed :D**

**1\. How strong is Percy? **

**I'd say is as strong as a god at this point in the story, not an Olympian but stronger than most minor gods.**

**2\. How many of Percy's friends are still mortal?**

**All of them (except for Thalia obviously) I have some plans that I don't really want to reveal yet. Sorry.**

**3\. How old does Percy look? **

**Percy looks like a 22 year old (partially immortal remember?)**

**Hope I answered anything you wanted to know, thank you all for reading :P**

**Hunter Names and parents**

**Thalia - Zeus**

**Alexia - Apollo**

**Pheobe - Ares (correct me if I'm wrong)**

**Olivia - Demeter**

**Monica - Hecate**

**Jenna - Athena**

**Rachael - Apollo**

**Lisa - Hermes ( part 1 of triplets)**

**Leila - Hermes (part 2 of triplets)**

**Hannah - Asclepius**

**Samantha - Hephaestus**

**Lena - Hermes (part 3 of triplets)**

**Daisy - Demeter**

**Sarah - Hephaestus **

**Sophia - Athena **

**Evelyn - Nike**

**Sabrina - Aphrodite**

**Jasmine - Athena**

**Sapphire - Hermes**

**Lily - Demeter**


	17. Chapter17

**Here it is, chapter 17. _I've gone through all of the old chapters and fixed any grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and made the story flow a little better, give it a re- read if you want._ More QA**** below. Hope you enjoy :D**

**P.S: Huge thank you goes to Alex Focker, he's been with me since day one and has helped improve my story immensely. **

**IMPORTANT: Last chapter at the bottom I put a list of the hunter's names and godly parents, I will be referencing them a bit in this chapter.**

_Hunter's Camp, Upper Peninsula Michigan_

_June 8th, 6:38 AM _

_3rd POV_

Percy has woken up early, as usual, and was enjoying the rare moment of silence; basking in the morning sunlight and enjoying the natural beauty of the forest they were encamped in. Percy jumped up into a tree and pulled his backpack off his back, looking over the black material for his keychain. Once he found the familiar guitar shaped piece of wood, he pulled it off and watched as it grew into his battle-worn guitar. Percy's mind went back to the time where he wasn't paying attention and a hellhound snuck up on him while playing; that day, he finally understood what the saying '_taste the music_' meant.

As he played into the morning, Zoë decided she liked the song and sat down at the base of the tree. Percy always smiles whenever she does that, it makes him feel like he was repaying her in some way for her companionship over the years. Percy was at peace; sunlight against his skin, wind in his hair, Zoë down below him, and a small tune playing on his guitar. He closed his eyes, still strumming his guitar, and relaxed for the first time since he started staying with the hunt. Of course, someone would come and ruin it, "Hey Elvis Presley, get down here."

"What do you want Thalia?" Percy said, eyes still closed. Thalia didn't respond, probably trying to annoy Percy into opening his eyes. Much to his ire, Thalia's plan worked and Percy opened one eye and looked at her, "Happy now?"

Thalia just grinned in response, eliciting a small groan from Percy: she wanted him to get down. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction, he's been relaxing for multiple hours and nothing short of the entire Olympian council would be able to get him to budge. "Lisa's making hot chocolate."

Percy jumped down from the branch, startling both Zoë and Thalia, "Well why didn't you lead with that?" Since his return to Olympus, Percy has had the luxury of a lot of different foods; hot chocolate and coffee are prime examples. Percy's become so addicted to them that he's been carrying coffee beans and cocoa powder in his backpack, allowing him to make his new favorite drinks anytime he desires; which is a lot. Percy likes to think that he's pretty adept at making them, but Lisa is the crowned Queen of Cocoa.

"Well I wouldn't have been able to tick you off a bit now would I?" Percy just gave her an annoyed look and ripped the strings off his guitar, causing it to transform back to his keychain and return to his backpack - gotta love daughters of Hecate. Percy headed off back towards the camp, ignoring Thalia, he was upset that she didn't tell him earlier that Lisa was making hot chocholate. Thalia just shook her head at her cousin's childish antics, the guy could slaughter armies but still be upset over something as simple as hot chocolate.

As the smell of chocolate hit his nose, Percy picked up his pace, he was not going to let Jenna drink it all before he gets there; they have a small rivalry - for reasons obvious enough. Percy half sprinted into the camp, startling a few hunters and scaring some into shooting an arrow at him. "Sorry about the '_disgusting male presence' _but an arrow seems a bit extreme for a guy trying to get some cocoa." Percy said while dodging another arrow.

"Don't let him get to the pot, he'll drink it all!" All of the hunter's immediately pulled out their bows, firing with the intention to hit - not kill, not yet at least. Percy ran behind a tree and pulled his Nemean Lion pelt out of his backpack and grinned. He ran back out, Nemean Lion pelt covering his whole body, and made a b-line for the pot of cocoa, dodging hunters trying to tackle him to the ground the whole way there. Percy dove to the campfire and touched the pot, "Safe!" This elicited a collective groan from the entire hunt, a few of them grumbling about how he cheated - which he did this time.

Percy grinned like a Cheshire Cat and poured himself a cup, taking small sips of the heavenly drink and enjoying every drop. One day, Percy was going to find out how she made it like this, and he will take that recipe to the grave. As Percy poured himself a second cup he noticed none of the hunters were coming for more, confusing Percy immensely. He felt a weight in his hand and realized that he had subconsciously uncapped _Riptide - _oops. Percy quickly capped his beloved pen and watched as the hunters let out a relieved sigh and start coming for seconds. _Was he really that scary?_

As Percy was pouring a little bit of water into a small bowl for Zoë, Artemis decided to flash in - probably coming from some meeting or solo hunt that she always goes on. After a quick nod of acknowedgement, he went back to pouring Zoë some water, he really wanted to find a way to give Zoë some hot chocholate or coffee without dying, then he'd have an actual excuse for making so much.

As Percy was waiting to see if Zoë wanted more or not, he let his gaze wander. As he saw Sophia, a young daughter of Athena, slip on a small puddle he grew concerned. As he went to help her, he noticed the water seemingly trying to hold the girl down. _What in the name of Poseidon is going on? _

Percy looked around and noticed that none of the hunters were having the same problems, except for two: Jasmine and Jenna - both daughters of Athena. Percy began to grow suspicious and went to find answers, "Artemis, I'm going to Atlantis for a second, I need to talk to my father."

Artemis looked at him strangely, "And how do you plan on getting there?" Percy have her his treademark lopsided grin, "Like this," and proceeded to jump into a puddle, disappearing through the liquid like it was a portal; causing a large panic within the hunt.

_Royal Throne Room, Atlantis_

Percy materialized in a corner of the throne room, not wanting to disrupt any meeting his father might have with one of his subjects. Percy was correct in thinking someone would be there and watched as two Atlanteans - apparently neighbors - argue about who put up a fence on the property line, both accusing each other. Poseidon noticed his presence and decided to end the meeting, "Enough! Why don't you just take the fence down and call it a day? There is no use in acting like children and arguing over who did what, it was obviously someone else if neither of you did it." As the two agreed and left, Percy walked out of the corner he was in.

Poseidon walked off his throne and gave Percy a hug, "Ah my son, how are you doing today? I'm going to assume a meeting like this isn't just a time to catch up is it?" Percy returned the hug and gave his father a stern look, "Why is water trying to kill children of Athena?"

Poseidon looked like a deer caught in headlights, "Well you see - uh, um -" Percy cut his father off with a glare, "Why did you do it?"

"Athena and her spawn caused you to leave for years, and in my anger, I cursed them and all future children of that wretched wisdom goddess." Poseidon said, gaining some confidence. "Well why did you curse them all? Why not just Athena and Annabeth?"

Poseidon looked flustered again, "Well, uh, you see Perseus.. I was angry?" Percy facepalmed, "Seriously dad? You were angry so you decided to curse young children, I thought you were better than this. I expect you to remove that curse soon." Percy said as if he was reprimanding a small child. He noticed Poseidon's sad and disappointed expression, as if he really liked that curse, "alright fine, keep it on Athena and Annabeth, but _only _those two... Gods and I'm supposed to be the child." Poseidon's face lit up like a Christmas tree and sent Percy off so he could get to work on removing the curse, he said he was going to redirect the curse, whatever that could mean. Percy decided to question it later and water traveled back to the Hunt's Camp.

Percy reapppeared, jumping right out of the same puddle he left in, scaring a few hunters in the process. "Good news kiddos, Athena's kids can go near water again without worrying about being ripped apart by a goldfish. Well most of you anyways, I had to keep my dad happy somehow." Percy was immediately bombarded with questions.

"What the Hades was that vanishing act you just pulled?!"

"I can go swimming again?"

"Who is still going to be cursed?"

"How did you change his mind?"

"Is it off right now?"

"Can a goldfish eat a person?"

Percy stomped his foot, causing a small earthquake that shut the hunters up, "Alright, alright calm down. Water travel. Yes. Annabeth and your mom. I gave him a stern talking to. Maybe, maybe not; who knows with gods. Maybe if it's determined enough."

"Well that's not fair, Nico has shadow travel, you have water travel and I get jack shit." Percy just looked at Thalia like she was crazy, "You can fly."

"Yeah, well, it's not as cool as jumping through a puddle like you're in Portal." Thalia said, slightly flustered. "What's Portal?"

This got a gasp from the entire hunt, which didn't help Percy's confusion, "Wow Kelp Head, I didn't know you were _that _out of tune with society. You could just kill any monster that came near you and you never once tried a phone or gaming console?"

Percy just gave her an indifferent shrug, "Well it's not like I can find an outlet -" Percy suddenly stopped, his instincts telling him something was off. As Percy scanned for what could be off he heard a loud clap of thunder in the air, "Weapon's ready!"

The familiar thunderclap and smell of ozone was soon followed by an ever more familiar army of monsters. "Hunter's bows ready!"

Percy didn't wait for anyone to prepare themselves - friend and foe alike - and immediately set off into action. Holding one of his knives in an ice pick grip and uncapping _Riptide, _Percy jumped into the fray.

As Percy crashed into the first telkhine, slashing it in half with a quick swing of his sword and stabbing a helhound between the eyes with his knife. Percy whirled through the monster horde, hacking, stabbing and dodging through arrows, ally and enemy respectively.

As the hunters watched Percy charge the enemies, some - the newer hunters mostly - thought he would die in a few seconds; how wrong they were. They watched in awe as Percy flowed through the monsters' ranks, a stream of gold dust falling in his wake, all while taunting the enemy.

"Is this the best you could do Ouranos? It's no wonder your children killed you." Another clap of thunder sounded in response and a Titan dropped onto the battlefield. "I just had to open my big mouth."

Percy didn't back away from the challenge and hacked his way to the monster's back line where a man made of what seemed to be made of rock and magma awaited him. As he cut down the last centaur in his way, he pulled on the sun charm on his neck and was enveloped in a black light. "Come on Dwayne Johnson, come reclaim Hyperion's armor. Or are you going to hide behind some monsters? Or maybe you'll go hide down in Tartarus like you did the past two wars?"

With each word, the Titan was getting visibly angrier, with the magma on his skin bubbling rapidly, "Do you know who I am fool? I am Perses, the Titan of Destruction, every step I take destroys the land, come to your death demigod, I'll make sure to reclaim my uncle's armor." Perses held out his hand and a war hammer came flying out of nowhere, killing multiple unsuspecting monsters. "Two can play that game," Percy held out his hand and his beloved spear _Time's March _came flying from the forest; his shield,which had been strapped on the spear, came flying along. Percy caught the weapon, strapped his shield on his left arm and got into a fighting stance.

Perses looked at the spear in confusion, he recognized it from somewhere, but he felt as if he would've recognized a weapon of that caliber. That is, until the weapon glowed a golden light, "You have my King's weapon and my Uncle's armor, I must say demigod: I am impressed." Perses said, in a deep, booming voice. Percy just rolled his eyes, he really didn't care for formalities or some Titan telling him 'congratulations on killing my family'.

Percy suddenly charged the idle Titan, catching him unprepared with his speed and agility. On instinct, Perses raised his hammer into the air and tried to squash Perseus like a bug. Percy rolled under the attack and came up slamming his shield into the Titan's arm, chipping a good portion of rock off and causing some magma to flow, '_is that stuff his blood?'_

Perses roared in anger and kicked Perseus hard in the chest, catching him off guard and sending him flying. Percy got up with a groan and spit blood out of his mouth, thankfully his new armor took the brunt of the blow, "You'll pay for that." Perses just smirked in response, "How do you plan on beating me demigod? I am the embodiement of destruction, and I am more than capable of destroying you."

Percy was sick of the Titan's taunting and launched his shield at him, catching the Titan off guard and sending him staggering. Percy didn't waste any time and launched his spear straight into the unsuspecting Titan's stomach, or what would be his stomach. As the spear went straight through the Titan's rocky body, Perses let out a scream of pain that caused the world to shake, knocking everyone to the ground, monster and hunter alike - except for Perseus, who calmly stood his ground. As Perses collapsed to the ground, Percy willed his armor back into his necklace, he wanted for Perses to get a good look at the face of the man who was going to kill him. Percy calmly sheathed all of his weapons; checking that _Riptide _was in his pocket, making sure he had both of his knives and putting his shield on his back.

As Percy approached the writhing Titan, he called his spear back to his hand, prepared to end the immortal diety the same way he tried to end him. As Perses noticed Percy approaching, he quickly slammed his fist into the ground multiple times, and laughed manicially at the tremors he caused in the Earth. '_This will work perfectly.'_

Percy noticed the Titan's change in demeanor and just put it down as an immortal's cocky attitude: they always think they're going to win; no matter how screwed they truly were. Perses looked at Percy defiantly, as if he was daring him to stab that spear between his eyes, Percy obliged. As Perses let out a scream that sounded something like he was in the worst pain of his immortal life and a laugh. A magma red light erupted from the Titan's chest and shot into Perseus, making him feel like his entire body was being destroyed from the inside out, but Percy persevered through the pain, he always does. '_Was this what he was laughing about? What's with Titans and trying to kill me when they're dying?' _

As Perses dissolved into black dust, the ground cracked and split, it felt as if the very Earth itself was splitting down to the underworld. A loud clap of thunder sounded overhead and hit the ground right infront of Percy, breaking the Earth and creating a large pit leading to gods know where.

As Percy looked down into the hole, trying to discern where it could lead, a large gust of wind hit him, knocking him down into the seemingly bottomless pit. As the smell of sulfur hit his nose, he immediately knew where this pit led, a place harboring creatures no man should look upon, a place the worst nightmares couldn't conceive: Tartarus.

**Well there's chapter 17. Hope you guys liked the cliff hanger, it was really fun to write, no wonder Rick Riordon does it so much. **

**_READ Q1, HELPS WITH STORY_**

**Make sure to leave a review, everything and anything helps**

**Some Q and A here:**

**Q: How is Percy so strong?**

**A: It might or might not have to do with a certain ancient symbol of power he's been holding onto for a decade.**

**Q: Is Percy's water travel ability canon? **

**A: I wish it was, would've made the entire series a whole lot easier. Side note: how quickly do you guys think the HOO series would've been completed if Piper had taken the shotgun in TLH**

**Q: Where's Mrs O' Leary?**

**A: She's with Nico, I was going to use her in this story instead of Zoë but decided that a hellhound the size of a garbage truck wouldn't have been the best for a quiet life in the forest.**

**Q: How did Hyperion know about the nickname atlanteans gave him?**

**A: seriously? Do you know how much they talk in the mythological world? Lemme give you an example, Pg 304 BOO, "she knows a guy, who knows a horse, who knows a goat, who knows another horse -" good enough for y'all?**


	18. Chapter18

**Sorry for the wait, here's chapter 18, enjoy :D**

_Pit to Tartarus, Unknown Depth_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

As Perseus fell down the pit, he wondered how long it would take to fall this time. He knew that Hesiod had once said it would take nine days to fall down, but he had proven that wrong before; now he wondered if Arachne had some magic on that pit because this was definitely feeling a lot longer than a few hours - well, it felt like a few hours back then at least.

Strangely enough, he wasn't scared or worried - for himself at least- in fact, he didn't feel anything except for a steely determination and a boiling anger. However, Percy was scared, he was scared for Zoë, for Thalia, for the hunt, and for whoever Ouranos could go after with him out of the way.

Percy vowed that no matter what it takes, no matter what he has to do, no matter who he has to run a blade through, he will get out of Tartarus - even if he has to climb his way out - he will come back. To him, it's just a matter of time until he reaches the surface once more, and in Tartarus, he will have all the time in the world.

———

_Hunter's Camp, Upper Peninsula Michigan_

_Thalia's POV (3rd)_

As the Earth had shaken down to its core, Thalia watched as her cousin killed the Titan of Destruction, Perses, and the sea of monsters run away in terror. She couldn't blame them for running, if she was in their position she would run too. As Thalia watched another lightning bolt fall from the heavens, she feared another monster army coming to replace the last; what came was something she didn't even think was possible.

Thalia had watched in shock as her cousin fell into a pit, leading to who knows where. As Thalia went to go help, Thalia found herself nearly passing out from a pain in her leg - '_damn cyclops'_. She watched helplessly and in pain as the closest thing she has for a family fall to gods know where; the image of him being pushed by a seemingly invisible force repeating in her mind over and over again as darkness and pain overcame her.

———

_Pit to Tartarus, Unknown Depth_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

As the small pit opened up to a wide cavern, so large Percy, even with his unnaturally strong eye sight couldn't see the end. As Percy scanned the landscape, he saw the familiar, terrifying blood red clouds, the endless black rock plains, completed with fiery chasms and jagged mountains. Percy scanned once more and could see a series of mountains that ran along farther than what Percy could see, at another end he could see what looked like trees - whether they were from Damasen's swamp or the Forest of Curses was yet to be determined.

As Percy looked below him, he saw a long black river: The River Styx. At the sight Percy grew even angrier, Ouranos didn't want to leave him a chance of living, he wanted his very soul to dissolve into nothingness. The water of the sacred river started churning, reacting to the Son of Poseidon's emotions, any monsters foolish enough to be anywhere near the bank of the river was soon killed; each dissolving in silent screams of unimaginable pain.

As Percy fell into the black water of the Styx, he envisioned a tether connecting to his heart, a place where nothing; not even blunt trauma would be able to kill him. After his first time dipping in the Styx, he realized that there was nothing stopping him from picking an internal point. As Percy hit the water, he felt as if every molecule of his very being was ripped apart slowly and painfully; putting him through indescribable pain.

As Percy was convulsing in pain, he realized the lack of people trying to pull him out the water and had an epiphany: he had nobody to tie him down to his mortal point. Everyone that he cares about is at the mercy of Ouranos. Zoë, Thalia, his mom, Paul, his new sister, Estelle, that he never got to know, the hunters; they're all at the mercy of the Lord of the Sky. At this thought the cloud that had been covering Perseus' mind had been lifted, his visioned cleared and he was able to see through the indescribable pain he was in.

Percy hit the bottom of the river, still recoiling in pain, and in one agonizing motion, grabbed a ledge of the nearby wall. He did this again with his other arm, each moment of being under the water putting him through more and more of unimaginable pain, only his will and perseverance keeping him alive.

Percy, still envisioning his mortal point, grabbed up higher with his arm - not having the strength to kick his legs up - and scaled the wall once more, each movement brining even more inconceivable agony upon his nearly broken body. Percy bore through the pain, and raised his other arm, he would not die here; not by some stupid river; not ever.

As Percy raised his arm to climb the wall once more, the pain increased tenfold and Percy nearly lost consciousness; it was if the very river itself was trying to kill him. Percy forced himself through, this was a trial by fire, he can not fail. Percy raised his right hand, grabbed the wall, and pulled himself up. As Percy's head broke through the water, he was able to feel his legs again and immediately kicked himself upwards. Soon enough Perseus' shoulders followed his head and he immediately grasped for a nearby rock and started pulling himself out of the water.

Percy emerged on the bank of the river, his body still shuddering in pain. As Percy calmed down and the pain of the river dissapeared, he took in his surroundings. He noticed that he had been laying in a volcanic, black glass and immediately grasped a shard in his hand; it didn't cut him. He obtained the Curse of Achilles once more, a feat done by no man, monster, or god.

The ground started shaking, "Your scent is strong Son of the Sea, you can run, but you will not escape me this time!" Percy knew that voice: Polybotes. Something inside Percy snapped, he didn't know why, maybe it was an accumulation of all of the bullshit the fates had thrown at him added up, maybe he was tired of fighting the same giant over and over again, maybe it was the Curse of Achilles, maybe it was all three, he'd never know.

Percy held out his hand and watched as his beloved spear and shield came flying out the river. As the two weapons hit his hand, he charged towards the sound of the voice, each step he took sending tremors throughout the ground. Percy was going to throw out all moral restrictions he had put upon himself; down here, his spear will become the most feared weapon since the rule of Kronos. Percy watched as the familiar ethereal golden glow appeared on his weapon with a smile on his face; Polybotes will wish he stayed in whatever cave he lived in.

Percy stood on top of a small cliff and watched the giant and his army below him. Channeling his power into the point of his spear, he threw it right into the eye of Polybotes, who was still around 100ft away. The giant screamed in pain, from both the destructive powers of the spear and Percy's own power over earthquakes that is splitting Polybotes' entire body down in half. Percy looked down at the monster army below him and did what could make the list of '_Percy's Stupid Life Descisions': _he jumped.

Percy in mid air, _Riptide _in hand, stabbed down into the head of an unsuspecting drakon. The legendary sword had cut straight through the monster's skull and Percy's momentum carried him all the way to the ground where _Riptide _sank hilt deep. Percy had never stopped channeling his powers as the son of the earthshaker and the quake that followed could be felt from every corner of the vast expanse that is Tartarus. Most of the army ran away in fear while Percy was catching his breath; all the better for him. Let the monsters run, let them know who's down here. Percy quickly finished off the last of the monsters who were either too foolish or too weak to run. He turned his attention to the giant who was still convulsing in pain.

Polybotes had been desperately trying to get the spear out of his eye to no avail, everytime he moved another earthquake would rattle his brain, leaving him in more pain then what he started in. "Let me help with that." Percy said as he yanked his spear out with a twist. Polybotes let out a feral scream of pain, "Curse.. you.. Son of Poseidon. There are... no gods here.. I will heal and kill you."

A part of Percy knew he was right, and another part of him was telling him to stab his spear straight through the giant's heart. Percy went with option two, seeing that there was no real option one and watched in shock as the cracks spread throughout the giant's crippled body. From those cracks, a deep sea blue light had been released and went straight to Perseus. As the light hit Percy, he experienced some pain, but barely felt it as he watched in shock as the Bane of Poseidon dissolve into black dust. Apparently, he doesn't need an immortal at his side, only the weapon of one.

As Percy noticed there weren't any enemies left to fight, he immediately collapsed; the events of the day and the effects of the Curse of Achilles taking its toll.

———

_Throne Room of Olympus_

_3rd POV_

As the hunters explained the events that had transpired, you could see the gods' trepidation build up with each passing second. Many were well at hiding it, but a select few were gripping their thrones so tightly some feared they might break. At the mention of Perseus falling into the unknown pit, that seemed to be the final straw for Poseidon's throne and a loud _crack_ rang throughout the room; sensing the tension emitting from the Sea God, everyone decided it was best to not mention it.

The gods sent the hunters to Artemis' palace and started reviewing among themselves the events of the day. As Zeus was silently mulling over the details of the story, a small, barely noticeable earthquake hit the throne room and Hades flashed in. Hades had been absent from the meeting due to him investigating a problem within the Underworld, the gods hadn't asked for details; it was probably something beyond their knowledge. "I believe I have the answer to both of our problems." The Lord of the Underworld exclaimed. "The pit Perseus fell into was the new entrance I had been investigating. That pit leads straight to Tartarus."

Pandemonium broke out within the council; Hades had tried to help by covering the room in shadows, however it only seemed to worsen the situation. All talking immediately ceased as another, much larger earthquake hit the throne room. All the gods looked to Poseidon who had stopped his wallowing to look around in confusion.

Hades cleared his throat, "That would be Perseus, my sources say he had landed in the River Styx upon his arrival in The Pit, and is currently fighting an army of monsters led by some immortal. How he's still alive, I haven't the slightest notion; knowing Perseus, the child had probably pulled himself out the river." As the gods looked at Hades to continue he just shrugged, " That's all I have, the information is never specific, and going down there myself is too dangerous."

Poseidon left in a sea breeze, probably needing some time alone; he had just discovered his son was in Tartarus after all. Zeus looked at the throne of his brother in sadness, "I vote we have a follow up meeting in a week and give everyone some time to think over the details." The council murmured their agreements and Zeus called the meeting to an end.

**Well there it is, chapter 18. Hope you enjoyed reading it :O**

**Lmk your thoughts on the chapter and leave a review. As usual, I will be answering any questions in the next chappie. Hope y'all had an amazing Thanksgiving :D**


	19. Chapter19

**Here it is, chapter 19, enjoy :D**

_C__amp Half-Blood_

_3rd POV_

The camp was in disarray, the gods had ordered for the demigods of both camps to be joined together in preparation for the war. The gods had decreed that it would be more tactical for them to join forces at Camp Half-Blood, seeing that it was much closer to Olympus. Since the giant war, the gods had removed their old ties in Greece, however painful it was, they knew that they couldn't allow them to be blind sided in an attack again. For a while, they were weak from losing their old seats of power, but they've recovered since and were as strong as ever.

Camp Half-Blood was scrambling to get all of the final preparations ready for their Roman brethren. Leo had come to CHB to try and help with the preparations, making sure that the Romans would be comfortable in the new cabins they'd be set in; they'd have the option of going to their godly parents' cabin or the new cabins made for their respective cohort. The Praetors however had their own cabin; it would mostly be used as an office for them, with the two rooms in the back for bedrooms and the front consisting of a few desks, chairs, and anything else they could need.

Other than the current disorganization that was become the camp, Camp Half-Blood's spirits have been high as of late. They had recently discovered their hero was well alive and kicking - not knowing where he was - and the children of Athena, most of them anyways, were able to go near water again, albeit cautiously; they still haven't tried to go swimming in the lake, their tactical minds thinking it could be a trap.

The Romans were slightly wary of going to the greek camp. Of course, they had spent time with each other over the years, with campers from both sides going back and forth between the two, but never for extended periods of time - or with this many people. They are worried that if a fight breaks out between the two groups, it could split the two camps apart; destroying any relations they've built up over the years. However, the gods' word is law, and going against them - especially in their Roman form - is never a good thing.

_Unknown Area, Tartarus_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

Percy woke up to the sound of voices. In less than two seconds, Percy was up, shield and spear in hand; he hid behind a rock, ready to ambush whoever was near. "The demigod issss near my lord. Hiss sscent is strong," Percy identified the monster as a draceana, no other monster hissed like that. "How can you be sure he's here?"

"Hisss sscent is very prominent my lord," The draceana took a sniff into the air, "He smellss like buttery bread, there'sss not a lot of that down here." The other, unidentified, man grunted his agreement. Percy walked out of his position and was met by a draceana and a large man in a pinstripe suit, "Well I'll be damned, how have you been Prometheus? I didn't see you in the last war, did some demigod kill you, or were you hiding as usual?"

Prometheus looked at Perseus in trepidation, he had heard the stories of the demigod killing his brethren and them dissolving into an unknown black dust, "Well if it isn't Perseus Jackson, down here again I see. I almost didn't recognize you with your new facial hair, while it does suit you well, I must say, your old look struck a lot more fear into your enemies."

Percy pulled one of his knives off his leg, "Is that so?" Promerheus looked at the blade warily, he's heard stories of the demigod's skill with his knives, if even half of them were true, Prometheus knew he'd be reforming before he even knew he was dead. Percy started to shave his face with the knife, not worrying about cutting himself; he wanted to set Promtetheus on edge, it'll make it a lot easier to get information out of him.

"Tell me Prometheus, why are you - an almighty Titan down in Tartarus - looking for a lowly demigod. You obviously aren't trying to kill me, unless you have an army hiding behind that draceana over there," he said, pointing his new shaving razor towards the monster, "unless that is the army. I'm not judging, times are probably hard nowadays."

Prometheus was trying his best to keep a calm composure and a steady tone, but between Perseus holding the only weapon present and the demigod's annoying attitude, it was getting harder with each passing word. "Well I'm glad you decided to follow my advice, but I am coming with a preposition: I want you to join me." Percy stoped his self grooming, "Join you? Give me one reason why I would do that?"

Prometheus looked at Percy like he was crazy, "Need you ask? You are down in Tartarus, the very home of all the monsters you've killed - which is a surprisingly high amount for a mere demigod. You have no idea where you are going, where you are, or how you are getting out. Every monster within a hundred mile radius can smell you, and even more will be arriving soon. As we speak, there are armies amassing in order to kill you; you need me."

Percy had finished shaving and was trying to look at his face in his shield, "Well that's nice and all, but I'm not too worried about them." Percy suddenly dropped his shield, "I'll ask you one more time, and only once: why do you want me to join? Don't take me for a fool Titan, I know you have some plan; a higher motive." Surprisingly Prometheus has kept his composure, albeit a little unnerved by the now familiar face staring him down. Perseus' now clear expression was basically begging Prometheus to make a move, to give Percy a reason to run a blade straight through the immortal's frame.

Prometheus decided to drop the recruitment process and get on with his objective, the demigod was clearly not going to be moved and a spear in the gut is an experience Prometheus would rather not have. "You see Perseus, word gets around quickly in Tartarus, and there are two people who would like to meet you - two important people. I am merely a messenger and a guide."

Perseus studied the Titan's words, "So I'm going to take a wild guess and say that me joining you was an attempt to go against these two unnamed important people." Prometheus just held out his hands in feigned innocence, "You can't blame me for trying. Are you ready to leave?"

"Yeah just give me a second." Percy picked up his spear and watched as an ethereal glow emitted from the spear head. Percy launched the fearsome weapon into the stomach of the draceana, the weapon moving so fast Prometheus didn't even see it flying through the air. The monster went down in loud shrieks of pain and Percy walked towards it.

"Let me make this clear Prometheus: I will not tolerate any tricks and I don't play well with monsters," Percy yanked his spear out with a twist and stabbed the monster in the head, killing it instantly.

"Am I clear, Titan?" Prometheus gave a shaky nod, he knew that weapon, and he knew from experience not to go against its wielder. Percy looked satisfied with his answer and gave a nod of his own, "Good, now take us there, and make sure to stay near the Pleghethon - wherever that is - I don't want to die from the air here." Prometheus gave another shaky nod and set back off in the direction he came, Percy gathered his weapons and stayed a short distance behind the Titan, spear in hand.

Percy and Prometheus walked wordlessly for a long time - or what felt like a long time. Time seems to be slowed to a crawl in Tartarus, making seconds seem like minutes, minutes feeling like hours, hours appearing to be days, days appearing to be months, and so on. It got to the point where Percy stopped trying to keep track of the time and focused more on his surroundings, memorizing the terrain and landmarks to which he could determine his location in The Pit.

The only time they had stopped their trek was when a monster would come running to their death or when Percy decided to drink from the River Phleghethon. Strangely enough, since arriving, the toxic atmosphere of Tartarus hadn't bothered Perseus. Percy had decided to not question it and continued to drink from the river occasionally, its better to be safe than sorry - no matter how much his taste buds would disagree.

Finally, they arrived about two-hundred feet away from a large celestial bronze fortress. "This is _The Titanomarchy, _the first fortress, what was once the jail of the Hekatonkheires and Elder Cyclops. The people who requested your presence are inside, the fort is heavily guarded, I'll go ahead and make sure they don't try and kill you." Percy strode past the Titan, "That won't be necessary."

The Titan of Forthought watched in shock as Percy slowly strode toward the celestial bronze walls, not a trace of fear in his step. A draceana guarding the wall noticed Percy's presence and immediately panicked; unlike before, the monsters recognized the man before them - the same man that has slaughtered thousands upon thousands of their kind. The monster slithered away and sounded the alarm, alerting every monster in the fortress of his presence. '_Better for me, I don't have to track them down.' _

Percy approached the large bronze door and started channeling some of his power into his shield. With a shout, Percy slammed into the door, using his shield as a battering ram. Percy's plan worked and the three foot thick celestial bronze door was shaken down to its core. Percy pounded into the door again and watched as the door was nearly slammed out of place, '_One more hit.' _With a blood-curdling war cry, Percy smashed his shield into the door once more and watched in satisfaction as the giant, celestial bronze doors flew into the fortress; killing a lot of unsuspecting monsters.

Percy uncapped _Riptide, _looked at the monsters and charged with a war cry that chilled every monster to their bones. The only thing keeping the monsters fighting was that there was no other place to go; they were trapped within their own fortress.

Percy cut the first cyclops down and started making a line straight through the monsters ranks; the sea of monsters splitting as if he was Moses. Percy slammed his shield into the leg of a hellhound, destroying the bone completely and stabbed downwards into the whimpering dog's head. Percy moved through the monsters like a robot on autopilot; quickly, efficiently, and without any remorse.

Percy killed the last monster and walked towards Prometheus, who was standing where the doors had once stood. "Well, these important people aren't going to wait all day; lead the way." Prometheus walked numbly to a door, still in shock that a single demigod had broken down twenty feet tall reinforced celestial bronze doors and then wiped out a fortress without a scratch on him. "They're waiting through this door, go straight, take a right, left, diagonal, left again, and then right." Prometheus quickly left the fortress, not wanting to be around if a fight broke out between any of the parties involved.

Percy walked through the strangely shaped corridors on high alert for any monsters that could have slept through the alarm. Percy reached a set of gold and silver fifteen foot tall doors - _'at least these ones have handles. What's with immortals and flashy, gigantic doors?' _Percy opened the door and was met by two people sitting in thrones, chatting aimlessly. "Bob?"

**Well there you have it, chapter 19,**

**Well anyways here's some QA**

**Q1: Wasn't Percy being recorded for HTV?**

**A: Yeah he _was_, that was a one time thing for the challenge a few chapters ago.**

**Yeah not really a lot of questions here but it always helps to clarify for any readers. Hope y'all enjoyed :S**


	20. Chapter20

**Sorry for the wait, here's chapter 20, hope you enjoy :D**

**Thank you goes SortaCats for pointing out a few grammar mistakes and helping to improve the story. **

_Tartarus, The Tianomarchy_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

Percy looked at the silver haired Titan, his sea green eyes looking up at him in shock, "How are you alive? Tartarus. He took you and Damasen." The third occupant in the room decided to make his presence known, "That would be because of me, Tartarus owed me a favor, however your friend Damasen won't be coming back - I only had one favor, and The Lord of the Pit is a temperamental man. Anyways, I am glad you decided to come Perseus Jackson, albeit vilolently."

Perseus turned his attention to the man sitting on a golden throne, he was old, seeming to be in his late seventies. It was the man's eyes that set Percy off; they were a shining gold, literally pulsing with power. Percy would've sworn that it was Kronos he was looking at, but there were a few features about the mysterious man that doesn't add up. The man's eyes literally pulsed with power, Kronos, not even in the stories his father told him of the first Titan War describe Kronos like that. Another thing was his age; immortals don't often take an older form, preferring to look like - well - like a god. "And who exactly would you be?"

The man seem to relax at Percy's answer and waved the question off, "All in due time Perseus, before I get to why you're here; I would like to give you a lesson in the history of the Titans - the true history of the Titans." Percy was immediately set on edge, he wanted to fight the man, to stop him before he even has the chance to try and change his views on the world, but something told Perseus that the man infront of him was trust worthy and Percy always trusted his gut. Seeing Percy not trying to stop him, the mysterious man started his story.

"For the most part, the stories you've heard were true, before and during the war, Kronos was a cruel man and a tyrannical leader, but before that, he was a loving brother and friend; a leader that all looked up to." Percy looked to Iapetus for confirmation, the silver eyed Titan gave a slight nod and a shushing gesture. "Before I start that story, maybe I should start with how Kronos came to power; how he became the Titan Lord of Time.

"When the Primordial of Time, Chronus, had first faded, the shock waves of power his death would've caused was contained solely by his symbol of power. This symbol of power is still around today, and is one of the last remnants of the ancient diety. This sacred object is no mere weapon, it is a manifestation of Time itself; an entity older than fate.

"To wield the power of Time, one would have to be chosen by Time, which is how Chronus was first picked, along with the other Protogenoi when they sprang forth from the void that is Chaos. This process is similar to your father's rule over the sea. The oceans and its unbridled strength cannot be tamed by a god alone, your father was chosen to rule the sea by the Sea. One of the main reasons your father has survived so long with the threat of Oceanus is because of the way he rules. He rules the sea with one hand open and the other extended to help any in need - always putting the denizens of his domain first. The Sea approves of Poseidon's leadership and rule and as a reward, your father is left in charge.

"To be chosen by Time is a similar process. When Kronos was first born, he was merely a Titan Lord of the Harvest, the weakest and the youngest of all of his siblings. Instead of being rightfully jealous of his much stronger, older brothers and sisters, Kronos relished his time as the Titan of the Harvest. Helping out any in need and wandering around the unexplored world, growing new climates and habitats that would shape the world into what it is today. Lots of beings and entities had taken notice of this and he became well-loved by all, but only one would matter: Time.

"The entity that is Time required a ruler, someone to keep its power from running rampant and destroying the very foundations of the universe; so it chose one: the golden hearted Titan Lord of the Harvest, Kronos. Kronos didn't want the responsibility or power that came with being a Lord of Time, he was content with his life, but knew of the consequences that were at stake if he didn't take up the mantle.

"It is at this part of the story, where your knowledge of history is changed - the truth will be revealed. The scythe Kronos used to cut up his father Ouranos was no weapon forged by Gaea, it was once the symbol and very source of Chronus' power, the literal manifestation of Time and its unmatched power - the power of the second oldest entity - only second to the void itself.

"After Kronos and his brothers cut Ouranos into pieces, a golden age of power and prosperity followed; ushered into the world by the new King of Titans, Kronos. Gaea was pleased with the new age and went to sleep, something she hadn't done since the fading of Chronus. However, Gaea soon grew restless in her sleep, she wanted to wake once more, but the Law of The Ancients - not to be confused with the Ancient Laws - prevented her from awakening without reason. So she made a plan and set it in motion; she would give herself a reason: the overthrowing of her children.

"Gaea set a curse upon the Lord of Time, one that would weaken the once all powerful Titan and transform him into the cruel and tyrannical leader that goes down in the history books; the great ruler forgotten to time. Even as Kronos reformed piece by piece, particle by particle, his curse was never broken and he had been unwillingly forced to go to into a war he had no intention of ever starting a first time.

Even at Bob's multiple confirmations of the story, Percy was still skeptical, the mysterious man saw this and sighed, "I knew this was to come." The man cleared his voice a few times and closed his eyes. When they opened once more they were literally glowing, the ever so constant pulse was still retained and continued even stronger, when he spoke, his voice was booming, seemingly amplified a hundred times over, "I swear by the void and by my immortality that all I said is true. Let Chaos, The First One, claim my immortal soul if she so much detects a trace of deceit in my words."

Darkness began to descend upon the room and all of the shadows grew thicker. The ominous darkness continued its descent and upon reaching Perseus, he felt empty in the most literal sense; a feeling of the void - lonely and cold. As fast as the darkness came, it soon left, leaving things as if nothing had happened.

Perseus was the first to speak, "What the _fuck_ was that?" Iapetus gave a small chuckle, obviously amused with Percy's bewilderment, "That my young friend is the highest oath one could take, your Olympians always were too scared to inform you about it, they never want to admit their lies."

"It would be like the gods to hide that from us. I would prefer if you just swore on the Styx next time, whatever just happened ranks high on my '_Most Terrifying Experiences_' list." Percy said, eliciting a laugh from both beings in the room.

Percy started to take in all the information he'd been given, wondering why the mysterious man had chosen to set Kronos' story straight. Suddenly _Time's March, _which Perseus had forgotten was in his hand, started glowing a bright, ethereal golden light and it all clicked in his mind, "I have to take up the mantle."

The man looked at him sadly, "Yes young Perseus, you must be the one." You could practically feel the stress radiating off Perseus, he didn't think he was ready. Seeing this Iapetus was quick to reassure his friend, "Have no fear Percy, you are already the perfect candidate for the job."

At Percy's questioning look, Iapetus continued, "You have the strength of the gods and the perseverance and potential of humanity in your blood. Not to mention your heart of gold and the willingness to help any and all you see, no matter who they are; these alone set you apart from anybody on the planet. And as you can see," Iapetus gestured towards his still glowing spear, "Time has already chosen you, allowing you to use its full destructive power and rip the very soul out of immortals and take their power."

Percy looked confused and was ready to start firing off questions before The Man stepped in, "Perseus, you have seen it; you've just thought nothing of it. When you killed Hyperion, Perses and Polybotes, you've seen the light come away from their body and into you, have you not?" At Percy's nod the unknown man continued, "That was their soul, their power and immortality, the black dust that followed was them transporting to the realm of the faded. You've experienced the use of their power first hand, but you've never noticed them.

"While fighting Perses, he had kicked you; the force and destructive power applied should've broken nearly every bone in your body, but the light around you hardened and cushioned your fall, all while giving you the energy needed to fight him and his army.

"When you fought Polybotes and caused an earthquake so large it could be felt up on Olympus; that was the combined effort of your own power and Perses' former domain of destruction.

"And you would be an immortal from taking all of their essences, but your partial immortality is fighting it away. Adding in your Curse of Achilles, there is no other being, immortal, faded or demigod that is more fit to take up the mantle - nobody more fit to become the next Lord of Time. You have been chosen by the entity that is Time, and it had already rewarded you for your efforts: your beloved wolf Zoë was a gift from Time. She was made of a species long lost to time, the dire wolf, and a future species yet to come to Earth."

The man gave Percy some time to digest all of the new information, finally Percy seemed to come to terms with the events that had taken place, but there was one still lingering question, "Who are you?"

**Well there you have it, chapter 20. Hope you guys like cliff hangers, because I'm finding them really fun.**

**Make sure to leave a review, anything and everything helps.**


	21. Chapter21

**Here's chapter 22, hope you guys like it. Thank you for all the positive feedback in the last chapter, anytime I see a new review pop up it makes my day. As always _questions are answered at the bottom_. Enjoy :D**

_Camp Half-Blood_

_3rd POV_

When news reached the camps of Perseus' descent into the pit of Tartarus, it was a somber day for all of the demigods. To the Greeks, he was their brother, their friend, their own flesh and blood. To the Romans, he was a soldier, their Praetor, the man favored by the gods and raised upon a shield by all of New Rome. To the hunters, who were taking rest at the camp after the attack by Ouranos, he was the big brother they never had, a man that they could respect and gave them a sliver of hope for the rest of his gender.

To all of these people, Perseus Jackson was their hero, their chosen one, the one who could lead them all straight into the pits of hell with a shit eating grin upon his face. The man that had saved their lives several times, the man who had changed all of their lives several times. The same man who's shoulders have beared the weight of the world countless times since he was but a boy. To the Romans, The Greeks, even The Hunters, Perseus Jackson was on a higher level than they could ever amount to. A man who was considered in higher regards than the gods themselves. But few people actually know the real Perseus Jackson.

The select few that have shared Perseus' thoughts, that had seen him at his highest highs and lowest lows, that had been with him through hell and high water. Through the Second Titan War, fighting against Kronos and his armies with but only fourty demigods; a defensive stand that eclipses the great Leonidas and his Spartans. They know the true Perseus Jackson. The man that only wanted peace in his life, the man who only wanted a loving family and close friends. Only to have any of his desires ripped away from him at every turn, to have them stolen by the threads of fate themselves.

But they also know Perseus as the man who can bend, but never break. The man who would rather bear the weight of the sky for the rest of eternity than see a friend in need. The man who faces armies alone so not a single blade falls upon that same friend's skin. They know the man that will take up the mantle when needed, no matter the cost to himself. The man who sacrifices his own body and mind time and time again just so somebody else doesn't have to.

When news of Perseus' fall into The Pit reached the veterans of the wars, nothing was able to bring them out of their state of sadness. Not even Chiron or the gods were able to, as they were grieving just as much. Throughout the following days, stories were traded constantly around the campfire about the legendary demigod - the myth in the world of mythology. The new campers had gotten to learn in awe about the legend of Perseus Jackson, passed through the few of his close friends that are either still at camp, or haven't been killed by some monster.

Finally, after days of unfamiliar depression and lack of pranking, Connor and Travis Stoll had enough and abruptly shot up at the same time during an unusually quiet breakfast. "That is it-"

"We have had enough-"

"Of sitting around and doing nothing."

"We should be training to honor our friend-"

"Not sitting around and weeping for him."

"He will come out of The Pit-"

"For the second time."

"Even if he has to face Tartarus himself to do it."

"What good will our leader be-

"If he doesn't have anyone worth leading?"

"I say we get back to training our asses off-"

"And kill every single monster that that shit eating Sky God sends at us."

The large group of demigods that was present at the dining pavilion shouted their agreement, some picking up their weapons and going to the training grounds or archery ranges, breakfast still in hand. The demigods will be ready to defend Olympus, Perseus or not, they will fight to the last man in defense of their home.

...

_Thalia's POV (3rd)_

As Thalia Grace and her hunters were preparing to go back into the wilderness, she was nudged in her back. Thalia turned around to be met with a pair of sad, onyx eyes looking at her. Zoë let out a small whimper, obviously not used to being away from her master for so long.

Thalia started scratching the large wolf behind her ears, a spot that Percy had told her she loves. This however only seemed to sadden the wolf, the gesture seemingly reminding Zoë of her owner. "Come Zoë, let's get ready to leave, Percy will come back, even if he has to make his own exit out of Tartarus; Kelp Head loves you too much."

Zoë nuzzled her face into Thalia's arm, seeming to understand every word the daughter of Zeus said. Thalia looked into the black eyes of the wolf and saw the underlying intelligence, masked up by the depression and sadness that was ever so present. Thalia got the strange feeling that this wolf wasn't supposed to be here. Its intelligence seemingly ahead of her time, but her primal strength and size saying otherwise. "If this is what wolves are like in the future, humanity is screwed."

Thalia continued staring at the wolf, curious about her nature. Thalia was contemplating getting Zoë to take a DNA test until Pheobe, her second in command, sounded the hunting horn. She started walking up the hill and started checking that she had everything: bow and quiver on her back, can of mace in her pocket, aegis on her wrist, tent and supplies in her backpack. Zoë soon joined her side, accepting Thalia as her new master - for now. Thalia was slightly worried about this, she knew how to keep the hunting wolves fed and happy, but none of them were over five feet tall and were smart enough to beat her in chess.

Thalia calmed her nerves and one reassuring thought came to mind, '_If Kelp Head can take care of a wolf, then I am more than capable.' _As the hunters left the camp, they started jogging, under orders from Artemis to camp out somewhere in a forest near New York until she was available to join them. Thalia turned to her right and was shocked to see that Zoë was easily keeping up with them; wolves were not animals known for their ability to run for long periods of time.

As the hunters stopped for a lunch break, Zoë suddenly tensed up and started barking. The hunters looked confused to why she started acting like this; she usually was nice and quiet. Suddenly, the sky darkened and started thundering. Thalia immediately understood the meaning of her bark, "Ambush!"

The hunters wasted no time in getting into a tight circle, prepared for an attack from any direction. The land was perfect for an ambush - a large, open clearing surrounded by trees. Suddenly, a thunderbolt dropped to their left, followed by well over two-hundred monsters; a number much smaller compared to last time.

As the hunters started firing off arrows into their ranks, many of the monsters started falling, but were easily replaced by the next. As the monsters neared, Thalia met them with her spear and aegis in hand, seeing as she was the only one that didn't solely rely on hunting knives and bows, and tried to stem the flow of monsters from reaching her hunters. As the hunt shot arrow after arrow into the monster ranks, Thalia felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck and turned around, only to be met by an arrow in the side.

As Thalia looked at her wound in shock, she heard a bark so loud it seemed like a cannon was going off. In less than a few seconds, Zoë had bounded over to the draceana that shot her and mauled it to death. Zoë turned to the rest of the monsters and ran into the back ranks, dodging arrows shot by both the hunters and the monsters, ripping out any monster's throat that she could isolate from the rest of the group.

Thalia refused to give up, as the monsters were distracted by a large,150lb wolf darting through their ranks she broke off the shaft of the celestial bronze arrow stuck in her, and, with a shout of pain, pushed the rest through her side; thankfully it was only a flesh wound. Thalia ripped part of her shirt off and wrapped it around her wound. As she turned back to fight the monsters, she saw Zoë run up to the last monster - a hell hound sprinting away for its life - and jump onto its back, biting down so hard the monster died instantly.

Thalia watched as Zoë ran up to Hannah and Rachael, who were checking the rest of the hunters for injuries, and start nudging them in her direction. The daughters of Asclepius and Apollo immediately saw Thalia's blood stained, make shift bandage and ran over, ambrosia, nectar and first aid kit in hand. As Thalia was being patched up, she looked to her right, where Zoë was laying down protectively infront of her, and started petting the oversized wolf. She doesn't care how or why this wolf is here, just that she has her.

———

_Tartarus, The Titanomarchy_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

"All will be revealed in due time my friend, for now, you may call me _Nēram." _With that, Nēram dissolved into golden sand, a small smirk plastered upon his face. "Come friend Percy, I must train you for the days to come. Nēram's words were not a simple threat, they were the whole truth and should not be take lightly. If the flow of time does not have someone to guide its power, it will run rampant throughout the cosmos, dismantling the foundations of the universe itself, destroying all forms of life." Bob walked past Perseus, spear in hand, and out the door, going to gods know where.

Perseus was quick to follow his old friend, traversing the ever so confusing walls of the _Titanomarchy_, changing their direction at every turn; up, down, left, right, diagonal, right, right, down and so many more that Percy couldn't keep track. Finally, they they passed through a door that led back out to the outside of the fortress, monster dust and destroyed doors still present. "Call your spear to you, and I will train you with it as I had once trained my younger brother Kronos."

Percy was left perplexed by Iapetus' statement, "You trained Kronos with a spear?" The Titan of the West turned to face his ever so loyal friend, "I did not train him in the ways of the spear. I trained him to control the flow of time."

**Well there you have it, chapter 21. Sorry for the lack of Percy in the chapter, I wanted to give you guys a little teaser for what's to come. **_**As always questions are answered below.**_

**_Make sure to leave a review, anything and everything helps. _**

**Q1: How could partial immortality fight off 3 immortal essences?**

**A1: The partial immortality is _Olympian_, and Percy's dad is an Olympian. His body won't allow a Titan's or Giant's immortality.**

**Q2: Is that all he can do with his new powers?**

**A2: Ohhhh no. You'll see.**

**_Q3: Who's the guy other than Bob?_**

**_A3: I won't tell you but if you do your homework, you can find out._**

**Hope y'all enjoyed (OwO)**


	22. Chapter22

**Sorry for the wait, fan fiction was glitched and I couldn't see what I was typing /**

**As always questions are answered at the bottom, I hope you enjoy whatever I'm writing this time. (!_!)**

_Tartarus, The Black Spires_

_Unknown Time _

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

"Again." Perseus has been training with Iapetus since he got here; however long that has been, he couldn't tell you. As Bob had once told him, down here, time has no meaning. It is constantly fluctuating: speeding up and slowing down to no end. "You are trying too hard Perseus, you must harness the power of Time as if it were second nature to you."

Percy let out an exasperated sigh, he already knew this, he knew what he was supposed to be doing, but he could never actually do it. "Calm yourself my friend, there is no reason to get frustrated. We have all the time in the underworld to perfect this." Percy took a deep breath and gave his ancient friend a nod. "Good now summon your spear to your hand once more. It will help you until you can control Time's power on your own."

Percy did as he was asked and watched the familiar celestial golden glow envelope him and the spear. "Close your eyes and focus on the energy that is all around you. Pick out the strands of time around this rock to your left and will them to go faster:" Percy complied, repeating the same process he has been learning for gods know how long, only to gain little success. Percy didn't give up on his task, he started to envision the moving strands around him to be something more familiar.

As if he were intensifying a current, he willed the strands of time around the rock to increase exponentially. Percy looked on in shock as the flow of time had complied and the rock started rapidly eroding; he continued his manipulation over time until the rock was nothing but pebbles and dust. "It seems you have taken my advice, just as Kronos used to envision the strands of time as a stalk that can either grow or shrivel. You see them as a current, one that can be slowed or sped up."

Percy took a second to catch his breath, not used to actually controlling time, it had taken a lot out of him. "You're telling me... that you meant second nature... literally?" Iapetus cocked his head to the side, "Is that not what I had said?"

Percy managed a weak groan in between deep breathes, "I thought that was... a metaphor." Bob looked at Percy confusedly, "What is a metaphor?" Bob suddenly looked slightly miffed. "You mortals are always adding new words into your vocabulary. Back in my day, we meant what we said."

"So you know what sarcasm is but not a metaphor?" Iapetus gave Perseus a small smile, "We are Greeks are we not? We invented sarcasm." Bob's face suddenly hardened, "We must continue your training my friend, we will not have much time before the hordes amass."

Percy gave a noncommited shrug, "I've been fighting legions of monsters for the past decade, it won't make much of a difference here." Bob shook his head and got a far away look in his eyes, "Not down here Perseus. I don't expect you to understand, but you will soon enough." Bob shook his head once more and strightened his back, "Again Perseus, this is a good start, but we must perfect your abilities if we wish to have a chance. Unless, of course, Ouranos has turned into a small rock over the millineum."

Percy rolled his eyes at Bob's antics. Suddenly a loud screech penetrated the air. "Curses, the hordes have amassed, and they smell your demigod blood. Quickly Perseus, we must get back to the fortress, I do not wish to fight these creatures." Bob started running back in the direction they had came, Percy was quick to follow, "What are those things back there?"

"They're an ancient race that lived during the time of the Primordials, before Gaea had cursed Kronos, he, the rest of my brethren and I fought them to near extinction, any that survived quickly retreated to the depths of Tartarus."

"Why would you kill them all?" Bob's expression turned as hard as steel, "One look upon their faces will tell you all you need to know." Another screech pierced through the air, this time, a lot closer. "No time for arguing about the past, we must move."

Bob and Perseus continued their sprint back to the fortress, what they'll find there remains to be seen. As they navigated through the ravine, a rock slide stopped them in their paths, "They've grown smarter through the years, this is not a good sign for what's to come." More boulders started tumbling down the cliff edge above, narrowly missing the duo.

Percy, who was currenty trying to discern where the boulders were coming from, stopped moving completely. As the rocks stopped falling Bob too joined his friend in his search, scanning the area above them. Suddenly clusters of black rock started falling from the sky, catching both demigod and immortal by surprise.

Iapetus was crushed under the weight of the hundreds of stones falling upon him, Percy however, was far luckier. Purely on instinct, he channeled the power of destruction through _Time's March _and shot upwards a wave of power, completely destroying any rocks or boulders falling down upon him.

Impatient as they are, The Horde brought themselves into Perseus' vision.

Looking upon the creatures, he quickly realized why they were hunted down. Their humanoid frame was a pale white, as if all the blood had been drained from their bodies. The part that sent chills down Percy's spine was their faces. The face of the beast was so horrendous it could send Hades crying for his mama; their long, sharp teeth appearing strong enough to bite through steel. Around their eyes is an unknown, red liquid, continually flowing down their faces; their elfish ears pointing upwards into the sky. What set Perseus off however was their eyes - or the lack there of.

Where the eyes should be were empty sockets, that same pale white skin covering the back of their eye sockets; the bottom of the eye socket seem to be where the red liquid originates from. Countless of these creatures started filling the walls of the ravine, the black rock slowly transforming into a pale white; as if a disease was spreading throughout the terrain of Tartarus.

Percy summoned his spear and took his shield off his back, before strapping it onto his arm, Percy took a second to look at the pictures that adorned the face of the shield, reminiscing of better times. As Percy looked at the barren, rocky landscape around him, he had trouble remembering the fields and forests he had once called his home. With a sad sigh, he got into a fighting stance and awaited for the creatures to attack him first.

With a screech, The Horde descended upon Perseus, prepared to rip the skin off of his body with their razor sharp talons and teeth. Percy fully embraced the power of his spear, allowing for its true, fear inspiring power to be released from the bonds Briares and Hecate has placed upon it.

As the creatures saw the golden light emit from the spear, Percy noticed some of them hesitate to start moving, obviously fearful of the weapon of the ancient Titan King. As the first creature finally finished its descent and reached Perseus, he stabbed _Time's March_ straight through its skull. The creature's body went limp and Percy tossed it off his spear head. As the body reached the ground a horrifying thought came to the forefront of Percy's mind: the creature isn't turning to gold powder; these _things _are an actual species.

Percy pushed this thought to the side, he must survive the fight with these creatures before he can ponder their existence and how they came to be.

One by one, the creatures came to Perseus, each expecting a quick and easy kill and each finding a quick death. As the bodies continued to pile around Perseus' feet, his body soaked with the red substance which Percy assumes is their blood. As Percy continued to fight off wave after wave of these unnamed creatures, he started to realize that the creatures were moving significantly slower than when they first appeared to him.

As Percy looked down on his body, he noticed a faint golden glow emitting from his body: the power of time. Perseus realized that he had subconsciously increased the flow of time around his body and improved the speed of his attacks and movements. Proud of his accomplishment, Perseus continued to cut down any creature that came close to himself with a small smile plastered upon his face, '_Bob's going to be so proud of me when he finds out I did this.'_

As Percy cut down the last creature, the cluster of rocks Bob had been buried under started rumbling. Suddenly, all of the rocks had shot up into the air, revealing a very angry Iapetus, "Horde spawn! I will rip you-" Iapetus took a long, confused look around the ravine, "Why is the ground white? Where is the enemy?"

Perseus let out a long sigh and patted the Titan on his shoulder, "Come on Iapetus, we have some talking to do."

**Well there it is, chapter 22. Again I am really sorry for the late update, couldn't really do much about it tho /**

**Hope y'all enjoyed :D**

**_Questions are answered below_**

**Q1: Why doesn't Poseidon have anymore kids? Could you do a spin-off of one of these kids?**

**A1: Well as it said in the first PJO books, children of the big 3 are rare, probably more so for Poseidon; seeing that he if picky with who he dates *cough* take notes Zeus *cough***

**Q2: Is there any limit to Perseus' power, or can he just keep getting stronger and stronger?**

**A2: No there isn't, he can just keep getting stronger and stronger, as all demigods can. _I incorporated this into the story because I wanted to give my own reason for Zeus being paranoid about strong demigods besides him being an asshole. _**

**There you guys have it, love y'all, hope you enjoyed this story so far and make sure to_ leave a review, anything and everything helps._**


	23. Chapter23

**Hey guys, I'm back, sorry for the wait, thank you for understanding my predicament and staying with the story. Y'all are amazing **

**Now that that is all out of the way, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and had an amazing Christmas; the show must go on!**

_Tartarus, Unknown Location_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

"So when were you planning on telling me that there's an actual, non mythological, species living down in Tartarus?" Percy had asked this question for what seemed liked the millionth time and he wasn't sure if he was still curious about it, or just doing it for the fun of annoying Iapetus.

Iapetus let out a long sigh, obviously annoyed with Perseus' persistence and never ending curiousity. "If you ask me one more question before we get to the fortress, I'll hang you over the abyss of Chaos." Percy crosses his arms and let out an undignified humph, "well excuse me for wondering what exactly is fueling my future nightmares."

Bob stopped at the door leading into the ancient fortress and turned around to face Perseus, he was about to speak when an ethereal golden light appeared infront of them. The light grew brighter and brighter until neither Bob nor Perseus could see. Suddenly, the light dissapeared and in its place was Nēram sipping a cup of tea in a lawn chair.

"I heard someone's curiousity has peaked and a certain Titan was doing nothing to help it." Nēram took a long sip of his seemingly bottomless cup and let out a sigh of satisfaction, " Ahh. The Portuguese always did know how to make the best tea, it's unfortunate that the British popularized their own recipe and this one was soon forgotten. Where was I? Oh yes! you wish to know about The Horde."

Iapetus steppes forward, "With all due respect Nēram, I don't think Perseus is ready to learn about the creatures." Nēram waved Bob's concerns off, "Nonsense my friend. Perseus here is more than ready, and as you can see by his current location, he's already seen most of the horrors of his known world, what's adding a few more nightmarish creatures that will fuel his spiraling descent to insanity going to do? Now as I was saying, you wish to know about The Horde, is that correct?" Percy gave a small, tentative nod, slightly worried of what the outcome of this could be.

"Amazing!" Suddenly two more lawn chairs appeared infront of Perseus and Iapetus, one much bigger than the other to fit Iapetus' large frame. "Now get comfortable, we will probably be here for a while." Nēram's tea cup suddenly vanished and was soon replaced by a Minute Made Apple Juice, "Don't judge me, I have refined tastes." Nēram took a minute long sip that should've drained the small box, "Mortals always have made some of the greatest foods and beverages around. What were we talking about again?

"The Horde, Nēram"

"That was it! The Horde. What was The Horde again? Ah yes, The Horde is an ancient species created by the Protgenoi Nyx and Erebus. However these weren't any mere creation out of darkness, no these creatures were special. These were among the first created, and by result, the most horrifying and disgusting. For some reason however, they weren't immortal, in fact they were the complete opposite; they were completely mortal. And so, Nyx did the only thing a rational mother that just discovered her children can reproduce without being bound by the ancient laws would: she bred them over and over again until she was able to amass a large army of genetically perfect creatures."

"She let this army loose upon the denizens of the underworld, killing anything and everything in sight, sending many monsters to the void with their large numbers and sharp talons. They swarmed their enemies, the monsters intelligent enough had escaped into the deep depths of Tartarus, hiding in caves and crevices, never to see the light of day - or whatever passes for light down here. Many of the most ancient beasts were killed by these creatures, some of which neither Gods nor Titans have ever heard about, the few that managed to survive joined the rest of their ancient kin in hiding.

"Most of the other Protogenoi were relatively annoyed that their creations were being slaughtered, so they asked Nyx to take them out of the underworld; which she did. Nyx sent them straight to the surface, destroying ecosystems and extincting species left and right until Kronos and his Titan brethren put a stop to them. No matter how great their numbers were, the power of time stopped them dead in their tracks - you can't kill someone if you can't move."

Percy took a second to let the information sink in. He wasn't sure he fully understood even half of it, nor did he understand why Nēram was telling him any of this, or even why the old man decided to show up now at all times. Throughout this train wreck of a thought process one thing kept picking at his mind, "Didn't you say The Horde were hiding in the deep depths of Tartarus, why are they here?"

Nēram's carefree expression turn sour, "Well that brings me to why I came here in the first place. The Horde has amassed their numbers, as the war continues and both sides weaken, they will rise from the pit and kill everything in their path. Mortals, demigods, monsters, it doesn't matter to them; if it breathes, it will die. Their bloodlust and never ending hunger for flesh and destruction is insatiable, they will stop at nothing to taste blood again. The last person that was able to put a stop to them was the former Lord of Time, Kronos, and now, it must be you Perseus."

Perseus was taken back by Nēram's statement, "You want me to go up against billions of monsters by myself. To go into the depths of Tartarus and face monsters forgotten to time, monsters older than the gods themselves, with little training in my powers over time. Are you crazy?"

"Do not doubt yourself Perseus, your skills and abilities have shaped you into the the single deadliest being in the universe. You are a demigod, you can go anywhere, fight anything and challenge anyone; you are not bound by the ancient laws. You are the greatest warrior this world has ever seen. You alone can turn mountains to dust; mountains that have stood for longer than the lives of your gods. You can bend the light, and, in turn, the power of the sun to your will. The unbridled power of the sea courses through your veins and the flow of time answers your beck and call. You are the only being, immortal or mortal, who is capable of doing this."

"That doesn't change the fact I have no idea how to utilize these powers, I _could _do all the things you say, but I don't have the training to do so."

Nēram took a sip of his juice box and stood up from his chair, which would be a lot more imtimidating if he wasn't an old man - or if he wasn't drinking a juice box. "That is why I will be taking over your training."

———

_Throne Room of the Gods, Mount Olympus_

_3rd POV_

Zeus threw his master bolt into the sky, silencing all of the gods in attendance and signaling the start of a council meeting. "I have called you here today to discuss any news of the upcoming war and to share information between ourselves. Artemis and Apollo what have you seen from your chariots in the sky."

Apollo was quick to speak up, he was always trying to one up his sister, no matter the situation. "Well father, I have seen monsters gathering in large groups but they never stay out of the open for long, always hiding among the mortals in large cities, often hiding in the sewers and other places I cannot see or hit with an arrow. As for the monsters in the actual city, I am not able to harm them without alarming the mortals.

Zeus thought this over, "Ouranos seems to be more cunning than our past enemies, he is using the mortals as shields for his armies. Very well, thank you Apollo, if you are given an opportunity, rain death upon the masses. If that is all you can return to your duties." Apollo bowed his head, stuck his tongue out at his 'little' sister and flashed out of the room, narrowly avoiding an arrow to the crotch.

Artemis spoke up, an annoyed expression etched on her face, "My hunters are encountering more and more monsters every time we face them, however, we haven't encountered anything deadlier than the common earthborn. If you allow me, I would like to return my Hunt, monster attacks have been frequent without Perseus there to ward them off while I'm gone."

At the mention of his lost son, a small earthquake shook the room, everyone turned to Poseidon, who seemed to be having a hard time holding his temper. Poseidon muttered his apologies and motioned for them to continue. Zeus decided it was best not to mention Poseidon's rage lest he provoke another earthquake. "Thank you Artemis, you may be dismissed."

Zeus waited until Artemis had left completely until he continued the meeting. "Hera what can you tell us about the citizens of New Rome. Have they all been accounted for?"

Hera started to glow brightly until her form changed into the one of Juno, "The citizens of New Rome have all been relocated to a small, out of the way, town in Oregon and are all accounted for. We have provided them with the necessary currency to survive for years to come. They will be safe and out of any danger up there; if any monster does come close, Terminus will be there to defend them." Juno glowed golden again until her form settled on Hera. "That is good. Poseidon, do you have news on the situation under the sea?"

Poseidon took a deep breath and tried to appear calm before speaking, however the seemingly permanent frown never left his face. "The enemy I will be facing is currently unknown, but there is definitely someone pulling strings from the depths of the oceans. Sea monsters are rising once again, the Kracken has escaped its prison and has dissapeared."

As Poseidon spoke, his anger continued to grow, obviously the lack of knowledge going into this war does nothing but agitate the sea god further than he already was. Zeus thought it was best to send Poseidon off before all of Olympus is destroyed by an earthquake, "Thank you brother, you may return to your kingdom, I'm sure you have preparations you must make." Poseidon gave a stiff nod before dissapearing in a sea breeze.

"Onto the next order of business, Hades, what news do you have of the monsters in Tartarus?"

Hades straightened in his throne, "From what I can tell, the monsters in the pit are amassing in order to try and escape in large groups."

None of this was news to Zeus, but there was one thing he was still corncered of, "And what of Typhon?"

Hades was quick to calm Zeus's nerves, "There is nothing to fear brother, Typhon is still trapped deep in the depths of Tartarus; no sane being will go down there willingly."

Zeus visibly relaxed, the very thought of fighting the storm giant again worried the lightning god, "Now if nobody has anything else to add," Zeus looked around for confirmation, "I call this meeting to a close."

———

_Tartarus_

_(?) Later_

As Percy trained with Nēram, he soon realized how hopelessly useless he was with his new powers. He excelled in his training in destruction, that came as second nature due to his natural affinity with earthquakes, but time and light on the other hand were completely foreign to Perseus.

Percy had learned to reverse the flow of time, which was a lot harder to do than simply speeding it up or slowing it down. Think of it as a running current, then, take that current and push it the opposite way it's coming from, then amplify that by a hundred times and you have reversing time. Percy worked hard on his control over time, constantly speeding up and reversing the erosion process of rocks and boulders; turning them to dust only to bring them back to their full, rocky glory. For practical combat purposes, he began to throw his knives at monsters hundreds of meters away, speeding the velocity of the knife with his power over time, the knife would puncture straight through whatever poor monster's skull it hit and fly hundreds of meters. Nēram would then have him reverse the flow of time and call the knife straight back to my hand; it was a slow process, but each time Percy did it he was getting faster and faster.

Percy's training over light however was a bit more complex - seeing as there was no actual light down in Tartarus. Instead, Nēram summoned some giant lamps with what looked like miniature suns inside them - where the old man had gotten them from, Perseus would never know - the only difference was that these suns were a multitude of colors. There were red suns, blue suns, yellow suns and so many more colors that you could make a Dr. Seuss book. Percy practiced day and... day? He couldn't tell with the all of the suns and no moons. He harnessed the power of the light, bending it, molding it, shaping it, forging it, and so much more. Seeing as the light was a direct detachment of the sun, Percy realized that he had some control over the great star and its horrifying, destructive ways. Perseus started sending tendrils of scorching sunlight straight at monsters, incinerating them to crisps before they even knew they were reforming. Percy was pretty sure he was violating multiple articles of the Geneva Convention in doing this, but as Nēram put it, "If they don't know you're doing it, then it's not illegal."

Percy's entire mind was set to one thing: to become stronger. He knew what was at stake if he failed. The world would either be brought down in flurry of lightning or ripped to shreds by creatures from the depths of Tartarus. Everyone he ever knew and loved would die: his friends, Thalia, the hunters who had become the little sisters he always wanted, his ever so loyal wolf Zoë, his Mom, his sister Estelle, whom he never even got to know; they would all be forced to an early, painful death at the hands of his enemies.

These thoughts pushed Percy to his limits and beyond, Percy didn't sleep and he hardly ate, the only thing he did was train. When he did sleep he wasn't getting rest, merely just closing his eyes and waking up seconds later. When he ate there was no flavor to his food, no matter what culinary delights Nēram summoned, everything just tasted grey. Percy found himself often staring into his shield, a lone tear falling from his eyes, but there was nothing more than that. He couldn't cry if he was to save the world, he couldn't weep for all he's lost, and all that could be, he couldn't mourn for the few years of peace he had. He wasn't supposed to cry, he was a hero, he was indomitable, he was the greatest warrior to ever live, but he was also so incredibly homesick; he missed his friends and family, he'd even take Annabeth for company at this point - seeing that Bob had left when Nēram started to take over.

To fight his homesickness, he drowned himself in his training, pushing his body to its breaking point, honing his skills and abilities to that of a true Lord of Time. He trained for what seemed like days on end, his powers over light had grown to rival Hyperion and under the tutalege of Nēram and the plethora of monsters to practice his abilities on, Percy's strength over time could give Kronos a run for his money. According to Nēram, his powers would only grow with real practice, a practice that could be found as he slaughtered his enemies that awaited him further in the pit. Then he'd make his way to the surface and end the war once and for all.

Percy trained for so long he lost track of how long he's been down here. His mind was on complete autopilot: Train, train, sleep, train, eat, train, repeat. It felt like decades had passed at some points, while at others it felt like mere seconds. On the rare occasion when he would ask Nēram about it, he would dodge the question. It didn't help that Percy's own internal clock as a Lord of Time was going haywire; it felt as if time was being constantly slowed down but sped up at the same time. Speaking of Nēram, Perseus would sometimes ponder who the old man really was before he would fall asleep, he began to have his suspicions but he never gave it any real thought, he simply pushed the thought out of his mind and continued his training.

Currently, Percy was making his way to the Jagged Peaks: a large set of mountains that run the length of the Pit. This would be the final test conducted by Nēram to determine if he was ready to fight the horde alone. Percy and Nēram stopped infront of the large mountain range. Nēram summoned a walking cane and a Lay Z Boy recliner for himself, "Now Perseus, do you see that mountain right there?" Nēram gestured wildy infront of him with his cane. Percy gave Nēram a rare smirk, "How could I not? It's literally right infront of us."

Nēram frowned and whacked Percy upside the head with his cane, which did little to actually harm the demigod's invulnerable body, "Don't get sassy with me, boy. Now, destroy it." Percy wasted no time in trying, he had trained his skills to perfection, even if he didn't know exactly how long he trained, he knew it would be enough.

Percy uncapped _Riptide _and drank in the sight of his beloved blade; it has seen him through so much pain and suffering, the blade has put an end to more monsters in a day than most demigods would see in their entire life. Percy took a deep breath and channeled his powers over destruction and earthquakes into his sword, and with a shout he planted the blade hilt deep into the mountain; the giant chunk of volcanic black rock shook and shuddered for a few seconds then promptly collapsed into a large pile of dust. "Well done Perseus, and now the next."

Nēram was about to summon some more of his Sun-In-A-Jar contraptions before Percy stopped him. He would do this himself. Out stretching his palm, Percy summoned a large sphere of pure white light. The sphere continued to grow to the size of a garbage truck until Perseus stopped it. Exerting his will, Percy commanded the light to form tendrils, each burning as hot as a supernova. With one command, hundreds of these tendrils slammed down upon the mountain, leaving nothing - not even dust - behind. "Impressive Perseus, very impressive, onto the next one. I will not grant you a break, The Horde definitely won't."

Percy, out of breath and panting, gave Nēram a weak nod. He faced the third mountain and summoned _Time's March _to his hand, he didn't need it to help him channel his power over time, but in his current condition, it'd definitely help. Percy gripped the spear in both hands and held it out infront of him, and with one, earth shattering slam, he unleashed the power of time. The mountain started to erode, each passing second meters of it were being trimmed further down. The large mountain grew shorter and shorter until it flattened out into a hill, the hill continued to shrink until the grand piece of rock was nothing but a small lump in the ground.

Nēram watched all of this with a small smile on his face, "You are ready."

**Well there you have it chapter 23, I hope you guys enjoyed it. So Typhoon is in Tartarus... interesting...**

**_As always questions are answered below_**

**Q1: Does Perseus gain their domains or just their powers when he kills an immortal? Why didn't Kronos do it?**

**A1: Percy only gains the powers they had, not their domains, he's not a god. As for why Kronos didn't do it why would Kronos kill his family? He was king so if he started killing his subjects for his own power then everyone would revolt.**

**Q2: Is he becoming a Titan now since he killed two of them? P.S can I beta read your story?**

**A2: No he's not, I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before but his godly genes is rejecting the Titan's immortality, so he's just staying as a partial immortal. Sure you can beta read my story, I just need to figure out how to get a beta reader...**

**Q3: Could you have the story lead to Percy usurping Zeus and forming his own council of immortals?**

**A3: As much as I love those stories I'm going to have to give that one a definitive no. Sorry but the version of Percy I'm working with just doesn't work with that type of get up, besides, Zeus isn't half bad in this story - sure he's still an asshole but at least he's trying.  
**


	24. Chapter24

**Back at it again with another chapter for y'all. Recently I've been getting a lot of ideas for this story and I can't wait to write them. I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am. **

**I'd like to point out the fact that this story has reached over 100 favorites and nearly 200 follows, which is absolutely insane to me. You guys are amazing and I can't thank you enough for supporting my writing, you guys give me the motivation to continue writing what I love.**

**As grateful as I am, you guys didn't come here to read me crying my heart out; the story goes on!**

_Tartarus, Unknown Location_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

As Percy was getting ready to leave for the depths, he did a quick inventory check. Anaklusmos, check. Shield, check. Spear, check. Necklace holding his armour, check. Throwing knives, check. Percy picked up the backpack Nēram gave him and slung it over his shoulder; the bag was full of MREs, some bread, and a few water bottles - only the bare essentials. As Percy prepared to depart, a bright flash encompassed his vision, blinding Percy completely. "A warning next time would be nice, old man."

Nēram had the deceny to at least try and look sorry, "I figured you were leaving Perseus, and I wanted to give you one last parting gift. Pull out your armour." Percy did what he was asked, slightly confused to what the unknown diety could actually do. As Percy's body was covered with the black, spartan armor, Nēram reached out and touched his helmet with a single, bony finger and a golden glow encompassed Percy's vision once more.

When Perseus looked down upon his armour, nothing had really changed except for his armour being stripped of any designs, leaving it as a clean, black slate. Percy soon realized that the clothes and backpack he had been wearing were gone, having melted into his armour, freeing up a lot of area for movement. A new weapons belt was found at Percy's waist, holding _Riptide _and one of his throwing knives in scabbards on opposite sides of his body; his spear could be found in a holster on his back, ready for use at a moments notice. Percy checked his greaves and sure enough, his other throwing knife was well hidden down there. Nēram had also decided to add a black cape to this new outfit, Perseus swore that Nēram thought of himself as the god of fashion. "Thank you Nēram, but is there anything else to this besides a makeover?"

"Well besides being completely resistant to the heat your light generates, no. You should be a lot more grateful, you look absolutely terrifying!" Percy rolled his eyes and murmured something about crazy immortals. He went to strap his shield on when he noticed that it too had changed, "Nēram, please tell me that the shield I'm holding isn't the same one Hephaestus crafted me."

Nēram looked offended at Percy's statement. "Of course it's not. Well it is, but it's not. Even I could tell how much that shield means to you, it's only changed while you have your armour on. Besides I think it fits the whole spartan get up a lot better than your old one did; you look even more terrifying!" Percy inspected the shield and had to admit, it did go a lot better with his armour. The black metal matched well and Percy figured his enemies would be far more intimidated by a warrior clad in black than one holding a shield of fond memories. "I suppose I should thank you Nēram, even if you still refuse to tell me who you really are."

Nēram seemed to find Percy's curiousity amusing, "Only time will tell." Nēram waved Percy goodbye and dissapeared, leaving a pile of golden sand where he once stood. Percy had the strange feeling that that was the last he would be seeing of the immortal for a long time. Percy took a deep breath and walked deeper into the depths of Tartarus. After Percy completed his final trial, Nēram had escorted him to the edge of what could be considered 'safe' in the Pit, and now, Perseus was diving into the darkest part of Tartarus, going where no immortal would dare. He would be facing enemies older than the gods, beasts so ancient, their names have been long forgotten along the shores of time.

———

_The Abyss, Tartarus_

_(?) Later_

Percy had been navigating through the depths for gods know how long, slaughtering anything that came too close. The atmosphere had gotten so dark down here that the light provided by the celestial bronze of his sword did little to help, instead, Percy engulfed his sword in a golden light. The light gave away his position easily to any creature that was brave, or foolish, enough to fight Perseus; all of them meeting the same fate. So far, Percy hasn't seen any signs of The Horde; he recalled the time when Nēram mentioned how The Horde tended to stay in the deepest part of the Pit, using the absolute darkness to their advantage and ambushing anything that came too close.

Percy kept his guard up at all times, listening for the slightest sound. Just out of reach of his light, Percy heard a deep, low hum. Curious, Percy went to investigate, what he saw stopped the demigod dead in his tracks. Percy was looking straight at a five story tall drakon. It's scales were a midnight black, and would be nearly impossible to see if not for Percy's light. The drakon's beady red eyes looked down at Percy with interest, no doubt wondering how he would taste - Percy doubted the drakon had eaten a human down here.

Faster than anything a drakon of that size had a right to move, it snapped down at Perseus, trying to swallow him whole. Percy was quick to react and dodged the strike easily. As he readied himself to dodge another chomp, he had forgotten about the tail. The tail of the beast had slammed into Perseus with so much force that he was sure anything not bearing the Curse of Achilles would have been dead upon impact. Percy had been sent flying nearly a hundred meters, giving him plenty of time to shake off the pain and ready himself once more; this time, the drakon would not get so lucky.

Percy engulfed his entire body in a celestial, white light, tendrils of the light coming off him as if he was a miniature sun. The drakon tried to hit Perseus again with its tail, but Perseus had anticipated the attack. As the tail neared, he slowed time to a near crawl and slammed a tendril of light straight at the base of its tail, cutting it off with ease; unfortunately the heat of the light had cauterized the wound, not letting the monster's blood flow. The drakon broke free of Percy's control over time and let out a screech of pain. The monster glared daggers at Perseus, wishing to end his life right then and there, but it was still wary of the light surrounding Perseus's body. Percy held no such fears of the monster, he was out for blood. Igniting _Riptide _in a similar white light, he charged the drakon.

Snapping out of its fear, the drakon went to bite down on Perseus's head once more. Percy easily rolled out of the way, having plenty of practice fighting drakons, and slashed his sword across its face, the heat and intensity of the light helping it cut straight through the beast's thick scales. The drakon recoiled in pain and let out a hiss. This time, Percy had toned down the heat drastically and the wound remained open; black blood started to flow down the face of the monster.

Percy went back and forth like this for a while with the drakon, dodging its attacks and inflicting small wounds wherever the opportunity presented. Percy waited patiently for an opening to come so he could land a killing blow, and one presented itself soon enough. The drakon had given up on trying to kill Perseus with its claws, seeing that the demigod was much too nimble. Instead it focused on trying to bite him. After each bite it missed, the drakon was getting sloppier and sloppier with its attacks, the wounds inflicted by Perseus catching up to it.

The drakon shot its head straight at Perseus, hoping to take him out by driving him straight into the ground. Percy rolled forward and watched the drakon's head fly straight over him: this was what he had been waiting for. With one giant slash, he separated the head of the beast from the neck. The drakon soon dissolved into a silvery dust, no doubt caused by its ancient age and orgins. Percy looked around for anything else to fight, seeing that there was nothing, he shut off his light and promptly collapsed, the effects of the Curse of Achilles and using that much power taking its toll.

———

_The Abyss, Tartarus_

_(?) Later_

Percy woke up and was immediately set on high alert, his battle hardened senses ready to take him to war. Percy summoned a dim, orange light in his hand and scanned his surrounding area for any sign of a threat. Seeing that there was no immediate threat, Percy allowed himself to relax. He willed his armour to reatreat back into his necklace and relished the comfort his regular clothes provided.

Percy took off his backpack and started rummaging through his supplies, he took out a beef MRE and started eating. Percy opened the package and realized that he and Nēram had two _very _different ideas about quick, basic meals. Percy pulled out a steaming hot filet mignon on a glass plate and accepted that this was his life now: eating an expensive steak granted by an unknown diety in the depths of Tartarus. Percy had opted to ignore the fork and knife at the bottom of the package - mainly just to spite Nēram - and ate the food with his hands. Percy realized that he would have to be quick with eating, the smell of food would no doubt attract any monsters nearby.

Percy finished his food and burned away any evidence that he was ever in the area, it would be best to not leave a distinct trail, he's already been in the same place for too long. Percy got up and summoned his armour once more, ready to start his long trek into the depths of the Pit.

Once again, he emblazoned his sword in dim, golden light, not wanting to use up a large amount of energy just for a little more vision. As Percy continued his ever so constant march into the Pit, he started to take the lack of monsters as a bad sign.

Percy heard a pebble kick off somewhere to his left, and scuttling feet somewhere to his right. Percy constantly turned in new directions, trying to discern where his enemy could be coming from, but then it hit him: they're everywhere.

Percy immediately increased the strength of his light. As the light continued expanding outwards, it revealed his enemy: The Horde. Percy had foolishly let them surround him and now, he is playing right into their hands.

Percy sheathed Anaklusmos and pulled _Time's March_ off his back; during the rule of Kronos, time had stopped these beasts before, and it will do so again. Suddenly, his spear had started to glow and slowly started transforming itself. Percy watched in fascination, momentarily forgetting about The Horde and how he was hopelessly surrounded. When the weapon finished transforming, Perseus held in his hand the most feared weapon in the cosmos: The Sycth of Kronos.

Percy was questioning why his spear had transformed when one foolish member of The Horde grew impatient. It charged Perseus with a feral screech, claws extended and ready to rip the demigod to shreds. Purely on instinct, Percy spun around and bisected the beast with one, powerful swing. Percy understood now; Nēram hadn't just given him a makeover, he gave him the skills of a Lord of Time.

Percy slung his shield over his back and let loose a long laugh, this was going to be fun. Calling upon the strings of time, Perseus increased his own speed ten-fold, his body moving through The Horde at speeds that should be impossible for someone of his size. Percy cut through each creature like a hot knife through butter, often taking out two or three with a single swing. The bodies of his enemies were left scattered in his wake, but for each member of The Horde Percy killed, another three would take its place. The numbers were overwhelming and Percy needed something to help change the tide of the battle.

Slowing time to near motionless, he took a step back and caught his breath. Analyzing the situation, he realized he would be soon overrun, The Horde was coming in from all sides. Percy's grip on time had started to slip, with The Horde closing in on him at faster speeds than before. In a desperation attempt, Percy gripped the scythe with both hands and slammed the weapon into the ground, unleashing the power of destruction in one, massive wave. The Horde had finally broken free of the time spell, but it was too late for them. The wave of power destroyed everything within a mile of Perseus, shredding everything from the monsters to the landscape down to their atoms; not even the bodies of the creatures remained.

Percy was downright exhausted, leaning on the scythe as if it was a crutch; he had never expelled that much raw power without collapsing for weeks on end, but Percy didn't allow his body any rest. He has to continue, to continue fighting so he can protect his friends on the surface. Taking off his armour and summoning his clothes, Percy ripped his backpack off and grabbed one of his water bottles. Percy then emptied the entire bottle on his head, basking in the feeling of his energy returning. Percy was about to empty another on his head when he stopped himself, he still needed some to drink, and this was still only the first fight with the monsters.

Percy tried to will his scythe back into his spear and to his surprise, it actually worked. Shield and spear at the ready, Percy resummoned his armour and continued to traverse deeper into the Pit; The Horde wouldn't waste an opportunity to kill, and neither will he.

**Holy schist it's two chapters nearly back to back, what has the world come to? I hope you guys liked the re addition of the scythe, I thought it'd be cool to bring back the weapon to fight The Horde... among other future enemies that I have planned... Ooo I love putting teasers into these ANs**

**Anyways on to the questions:**

**Q1: Is there going to be a ship in this story?**

**A1: Sorry but probably not. HOWEVER, going through the story, I realized I could easily incorporate one in the early chapters and keep it alive all throughout. I was thinking of rewriting the story when I finished and possibly adding Percabeth or something. Lmk what you guys think about that.**

**That's all we got for the last chapter, ik it's not much but it's the thought that counts. _Remember to leave a review, anything and everything helps_**


	25. Chapter25

**So here it is, chapter 25, as always I hope you enjoy whatever I wrote this time. **

**Make sure to leave a review; your thoughts, ideas, questions, criticism and support is greatly appreciated. **

_The Abyss, Tartarus_

_(?) Later_

Percy slashed his way through another tribe of Horde, his sword and shield bringing a swift end to any being that came into range. Percy didn't know how long he's been down here, or how many tribes of these monsters he's killed. He was only sure what the outcome will be: extinction.

Percy didn't stop for rest or food, those niceties had left him a long time ago. He just trudged on through the wasteland of Tartarus, putting whatever monster he could find to the sword. Percy realized the effects this will cause on his mind when the war is over, but he didn't care. After all, what use is holding on to what makes you human if all of humanity is wiped off the Earth?

Out of nowhere, a powerful roar shook the very landscape of Tartarus. Percy determined that the sound was coming from above him and shot a ball of light into the air, using the light as if it were a flare. What the light revealed was something that sent shivers down Perseus' spine.

Flying high above him was a dragon; its body as long as four school buses and was at least as tall as a house. Percy had known about the existence of dragons, but they were so rare that they were basically non existent. The only dragon Perseus had actually seen was Peleus, but the friendly beast guarding the Golden Fleece dwarfed in comparison to the fire breathing monstrosity that was flying above him.

The dragon tried to find the source of the light, it's orange eyes scanning the terrain for any sign of life. Perseus knew that sooner or later, the dragon would see him, and so, he prepared himself for the worst.

The dragon finally found Perseus and immediately dive bombed the demigod, spraying orange flames across the land. Perseus hid behind his shield and watched the dragon fly over him. Percy would somehow have to bring the dragon to the ground, but at the speeds the monster was flying at, it would be near impossible.

The dragon continued trying to burn him alive, strafing back and forth, spraying fire everywhere; only to find that Percy was still behind his shield. The dragon circled around the demigod, waiting for another chance to burn Perseus to a crisp. Finally, seeing that Percy wasn't going to lower his shield, the dragon tried a different approach. It swooped down upon Perseus, trying to take his prey out with a single bite. Perseus never saw the attack coming, still trying to prevent himself become a crispy Perce-kabob, and was soon snatched into the giant maw of the dragon, dropping his shield somewhere along the way.

Perseus screamed in pain as the dragon crunched down upon his body, trying to break through his impenetrable skin. In desperation, Percy pulled his spear of his back and threw it down the throat of the dragon. The spear lodged itself in the dragon's throat and started the process of tearing the monster's soul from its body.

The dragon dropped Perseus and flew to the ground, desperately clawing at its throat, spraying fire in random directions as if were trying to burn the spear. As Percy fell, both he and his mind were going at a million miles an hour. Percy, remembered from his eleventh grade physics class that when falling from heights, it's not the fall that kills someone, it's the sudden stop. For the first time in his life, Percy thanked the education system for cramming random facts into his brain.

Calling upon the flow of time, Percy slowed himself to a snail's pace and watched on as the dragon squirmed as if it was having its soul ripped from its body - which it was. Percy landed with a soft thud and made his way to put the dragon out of its misery. Percy pulled _Riptide _from its sheath and stabbed the dragon straight through its eye, hitting the brain and killing it instantly.

As Percy retrieved his spear he realized that his armour had been completely destroyed when the dragon was using him as a chew toy. Percy frowned, he really liked that armour. Percy's spear glowed golden as he picked it up and an idea came to the forefront of his mind. Percy clutched his spear and called on the flow of time once again. Reversing time he watched in fascination as his armour start to repair itself, broken pieces of his breastplate flying towards him and back into their place.

When the process finished, Percy looked at his armour in satisfaction, it looked brand new - as if he hadn't been traversing this gods forsaken pit for what _seemed_ like decades - he still wasn't completely sure how long he's been down here. As Percy's control over time had grown, so had his understanding of it; he had begun to get a feeling for how long he's actually been down here, and he didn't like what the answer entailed.

Percy started to look for his shield and summoned some more light to help hasten his search. At the edge of where the light reached, lay Perseus' shield. As Percy went to grab it, the light revealed what had been hiding in the shadows: The Horde. The Horde charged him, screeching so loudly Perseus thought his ears would bleed. Percy calmly pulled his spear off his back and watched as it transformed into the menacing Scythe of Kronos.

Today, Perseus would be one step closer to returning to the surface.

———

_Palace of Hades, The Underworld_

_August 11th_

Thanatos flew into his Hades' dining room with urgency, "My lord, something is wrong inside the Pit."

Hades let loose a sigh of relief at Thanatos' abrupt entry; Persephone had been trying to get him to eat some mortal food for a change, which was absolutely ridiculous, he was the god of the _underworld _for gods sake. Hades immediately straightened up, no matter how grateful he was for his lieutenant's arrival, Thanatos wasn't one to exaggerate problems - especially ones concerning Tartarus, "Well, what is it?"

Thanatos pulled out his black IPad and clicked the screen a few times, "Over the past few months, hundreds of millions of beings have been killed inside the Pit. Under your orders to make my trips to Tartarus as short as possible, I haven't been able to discern what is dying, but I can tell you what is killing them."

Hades wasn't one for anticipation, nor patience, "Well, who is it, Typhon?" Hades wasn't able to see Thanatos' face due to his hood, but he swore he saw a ghost of a smile appear, "It's a mortal."

Hades had nearly fallen out of his chair, there weren't many mortals down in Tartarus, and even less down there were able to kill a monster. "I must go find Poseidon."

———

_Montauk Beach, New York_

_August 11th_

Poseidon had been easy enough to find, just follow the bad weather. Hades found the sea god walking along the water, lost in thought . He had been wearing his favorite fishing clothes - a bright Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts, complete with his lucky fishing hat, but the sea gods mood did not reflect his bright clothing. Hades noticed that Poseidon had been in a solemn mood the past week, no doubt caused from his son's upcoming birthday - a constant reminder that he is trapped inside the Pit.

Hades hoped his news of Perseus would lighten Poseidon's foul mood, but he had no idea. Hades approached his brother, putting extra effort in his steps to announce his present to the sea god, "He's still alive you know."

Poseidon turned to face his brother, a small smile appearing on his face, however it dissapeared as fast as it came, "Why else do you think Long Island hasn't been flooded yet?" Hades wasn't sure if the old sea god was joking or not, "Well that'd cause me a lot more paperwork to fill out, so I guess we can both be grateful."

When Poseidon didn't respond, Hades took it as the opportunity to tell him the news Thanatos had relayed to him. However, the news only seemed to worsen the sea gods behavior, "It's my fault." Hades wasn't one for emotions, but this was his little brother they were talking about, against his better judgement, he motioned for Poseidon to continue. "The events of his entire life is my fault. When I broke our pact to not sire any children, I gave the boy a fate worse than death; I gave him the fate of a hero.

A small twinkle appeared in his eyes, "It was after his first quest, I had tried apologizing for what I had done to him, but the foolish boy said he didn't mind, and then he tried apologizing for bothering me." The small spark of joy left the sea god's face, "If only he knew what the future would hold."

Hades wasn't the best at comforting people, but he decided to give it a go, "Think of the future Poseidon. Your son is partially immortal, you have the rest of eternity to spend with him." Poseidon looked Hades in the eye and let loose a sad sigh, "That is what I am worried about brother: He's partially immortal. As long as he lives, the fate of the world will rest upon his shoulders. I fear that soon enough, the weight will be too much to bear."

———

_Absolute Darkness, Tartarus_

_(?) Later_

Percy had finally made it to the point of no return, where no sane creature would dare venture: Absolute Darkness. This was supposedly where The Horde reigned supreme, this was the last lap, the only thing standing between him and breathing real air again. He finally understood Bob's last wish to see the stars, Percy had been stuck in this pit for so long he had forgotten how they twinkled in the sky, or how the stars formed constellations spanning across the galaxy.

Wasting no time, Percy unsheathed _Riptide _and strapped his shield on his arm. Tapping into his powers over light, he surrounded himself in an ethereal white light; the light he produced sent a message to all monsters hiding in the darkness: come and get me. The Horde answered the call with a deafening screech. As The Horde sprinted into view, Percy met their charge with one of his own.

As he ran, he called upon the strings of time and increased his own speed a hundred-fold, making him seem to be a ball of light running through the ranks of The Horde, leaving dead bodies in its wake. Percy whirled through their ranks like he was a hurricane; decimating anything in his path. Anywhere _Riptide _struck, another member of The Horde would fall; anytime a swipe of his shield hit home, his wish to return home came closer.

Faster than thought, Perseus sheathed his weapons and transformed his spear into a scythe. Using the scythe as a catalyst for his power, he simultaneously further increased his speed and slowed down The Horde. Holding his scythe in both hands, Perseus moved through the remaining Horde so fast that even he didn't realize when the fight was over.

When he finally did, Perseus collapsed to the ground in a heap - his light diminishing and his grasp on time leaving him. Percy had never tried to control time to that extent, and he was happy to say that he was near the brink of collapsing. Even through his exhaustion, Perseus couldn't keep the smile off his face; he would be coming home soon.

**Well there's chapter 25, I hope y'all had enjoyed it. **

**_Important_: If you can't tell, I will be wrapping up the Tartarus part of this story soon. I want your opinion on something beforehand. As I mentioned before, Typhon is in Tartarus, do you guys want the 'Tartarus Grand Finale' to finish in a battle between Percy and Typhon or to just leave him out the story? I'm kinda leaning towards a battle because I think it'll be epic but that's just me.**

**Besides all that, I hope you guys all have an amazing day (or night) and that my writing had somehow made it just a tad better. **


	26. Chapter26

**The people have spoken, this chapter will be a great one. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoy writing it.**

_Absolute Darkness, Tartarus_

_(?) Later_

Percy walked through Tartarus, his white light burning as bright as a star in the eternal darkness of the Pit. He cut down any being standing in his path using every weapon at his disposal, in his time down here - however long that is, his weapons had tasted more blood than he thought possible. The only monsters that still dared to fight him were The Horde, whether it was their confidence or their foolishness that compelled them to run to their death, he didn't know.

Percy didn't know how many of The Horde he's killed since entering the darkness. Millions? Billions? Trillions? It didn't matter to him. The slaughter would only stop when they were all gone. Percy marched through the bleak wasteland of Tartarus, trying to find any signs of Horde activity. Percy found some tracks and followed them to the entrance of a cavern. Seeing this, Percy let out a smile: they continued to make his jobs easier and easier.

Percy unsheathed a throwing knife and caught it after flipping it a few times in the air. Imbuing the knife with the power of destruction, he threw it into the cave entrance and watched as it sank hilt deep into the volcanic rock. Cracks spread throughout the ceiling of the cavern and continued to continue snaking it's way to the edge of the cave. Suddenly, the entire ceiling of the cave came crashing down, killing anything that was unfortunate enough to be hiding there. Whistling a small tune, Percy went and picked up his knife off the ground and returned it to his sheath.

Percy continued his never ending march through Tartarus, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of The Horde. Percy's patience began to wear thin - he may be an all powerful lord of time, but he was still an ADHD demigod. He shot a beam of golden light into the sky, sending a beacon to any being that dared to challenge him.

As usual, The Horde answered the call, and they came scrambling into view. Eager to rip whatever was down here to its bones, The Horde ran at a full sprint to the light, their mouths salivating at the very possibility of blood being shed. Percy sheathed _Riptide _and took his spear from its spot on his back. Making sure his shield was securely fastened, he sprinted towards his enemies at speeds that shouldn't be possible for a mortal, albeit an extremely powerful mortal.

Percy decided to fight The Horde without his powers, he is planning on making a lot of progress today, and he'd need to save his energy for the later battles. As Percy stabbed, slashed and bashed his way through The Horde, he began to notice a change in the atmosphere. The air felt heavier and the smell of ozone filled his nose. Either Zeus had accidentally dropped his underwear into Tartarus, or something malevolent was hiding in the deep inside the Pit.

Percy finished his fight with haste, whatever was down here held more of a threat to his world than the dying numbers of The Horde. Percy continued walking to the direction of whatever was causing the change of atmosphere, every instinct in his body was telling him to turn away, but he didn't listen, if there was a threat to his world, it will be destroyed.

Suddenly, a loud boom emitted somewhere infront of him and the ground started shaking, bringing down stalactites hanging high above from the ceiling of Tartarus. Another boom. Whatever was hiding in the darkness was coming towards Perseus, and fast.

Percy increased the range of his light and for the first time since his sixteenth birthday, Perseus was truely scared. Percy found himself face to face with the single deadliest monster in Greek mythology, the Titan of storms, Typhon.

———

_Manhattan, New York._

_August 15th_

Through the past few days, Ouranos' armies had started making moves towards Olympus, attempting an invasion through the island of Manhattan as Kronos once did. To rid the city of mortals, Ouranos used his limited power to cause enough destruction to evacuate any mortals within a hundred mile radius. With his armies' path clear, they made their way through New York. Olympus had called upon the help of the wind gods to prevent any monsters from being transported by a lightening strike, forcing the large armies to be funneled through the various tunnels and bridges leading into Manhattan.

The gods wouldn't be able to directly help in the battle as the ancient laws prohibited them, but that didn't stop them 'accidentally' leaving a few traps and battle plans here and there. The gods also had to prepare themselves for battle with Ouranos, the primordial of the sky has nearly awakened and he will have no such problems dealing with a few wind gods; Ouranos will be able to choose where and when he wants to battle.

The Romans planned on defending the Brooklyn Battery-Tunnel, The Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge along with the Apollo cabin. Any children of the Big Three and The Hunters of Artemis would be a mobile unit, going wherever they would be needed. The Athena cabin would defend the Lincoln Tunnel along with the Hephaestus cabin. The Ares cabin would be defending the Holland Tunnel while the Demeter and Aphrodite cabin defended the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Due to their smaller numbers, a majority of the children of the minor gods would band together to defend the Queensboro bridge - with the exception of children of Asclepius, who would be on medical duty.

The demigods prepared themselves for what would be the battle of their lives. They will have to defend Olympus from the monsters as they had done once before. History will remember the names of all who fought, heroes will rise and fall, but Olympus will continue to stand.

———

_The Darkness, Tartarus_

Percy prepared himself to fight until the end. This will no doubt be the single hardest fight of his life. Typhon approached the demigod and stopped when he was well inside Perseus' light. The Titan of Storms looked down upon Percy with a smile on his face and spoke in a loud, booming voice, "So this is the legendary Perseus Jackson. You have quite the impressive resume my friend." The storm giant's voice was so loud Percy was tempted to cut his ears off, he wondered if this was how he killed his enemies - screaming so loudly they end up killing themselves. "Ah yes, I know all about you, young Lord of Time. How could I not? We are one and the same after all."

Percy yelled something ineligible at the storm giant, but Typhon seemed to understand him perfectly, "We are more similar than you realize. We both are world ending entities and leave a path of destruction wherever we walk." Percy yelled something at Typhon, but the giant couldn't hear him and just took it as an opportunity to keep talking, "Don't believe me? Look at your path through Tartarus. As I once nearly ended humanity and all life on Earth, you have nearly ended The Horde. Over the centuries of your imprisonment here, you've slaughtered billions upon billions of their people, you've killed monsters that haven't been seen since the rule of my brother, Kronos.

"Ah yes, but I forget, you walk along the side of righteousness, do you not? But where is the righteousness in genocide? What are you getting out of your endless slaughter? Join me Perseus and we will walk to mortal world together and destroy anything that stands in our path; Ouranos will cower before our combined strength. Together, we could rule the cosmos! What say you Perseus?!"

Percy responded by throwing a knife into the giant's forehead, it bounced off harmlessly. "Very well, prepare for your doom." Typhon attempted to step on Perseus and squash him like a bug, but Percy was too nimble. He ran between the giant's reptilian legs and attempted to stab _Riptide _straight into the calf of the Titan, but the scales of Typhon proved to be much too sturdy for the celestial bronze blade.

Typhon laughed at Perseus' attempt at harming him, "Foolish mortal. The combined strength of the gods could not kill me, what hope do you have?" Typhon kicked Perseus and sent him flying hundreds of meters away. As Perseus got up, he realized that he couldn't hope to defeat Typhon by normal means; weapons would be useless against the giant's skin. Percy called upon the flow of time and slowed the storm giant down, giving Perseus some time to think of a plan.

Perseus time to strategize was limited, he knew that hoping to hold a beast as large and strong as Typhon until his time spell for longer than a few minutes was foolish. Still holding Typhon under his spell, Percy summoned more strength than he thought possible and channeled it into his powers over light. Percy's light grew so strong that even Typhon had to close his eyes lest he risk blinding himself, "Gah! Turn off that light before I burn you with it!"

The strength of the light burned as strong as a thousand dying stars, the heat produced incinerating anything the light touched. '_If I'm going to burn, I might as well burn bright.' _The light swirled around Perseus' body, covering the demigod from head to toe in the celestial white light. Perseus' eyes swirled with power, he may not be able to use his weapons, but he alone was a walking arsenal.

Tendrils of light started to fly off Perseus' body, destroying everything it touched. Channeling his powers over earthquakes, Perseus stomped his foot and watched as the ground cracked and split, towards the still blinded storm giant. The cracks snaked it's way to one of Typhon's legs and destroyed the ground he was standing on. The ground couldn't take the weight of Typhon's body any longer and his leg fell deep into a pit.

As Typhon attempted to yank his leg out, Perseus sent his light into the cracks caused by his earthquake and watched the light make its way to Typhon's leg. Typhon screamed in pain, the light had burned its way through his leg and bone, incinerating anything it touched. Lightning started sparking off the storm giant's body, further destroying the land. "You will die for this insult, mortal!"

Percy ignored Typhon's threats and sent more of his light into the ground, eliciting another howl of pain from the Titan of Storms. Percy pulled his spear off his back and transformed it into a scythe. Weapons may not be able to penetrate the Titan's body, but Perseus was willing to bet the literal manifestation of Time could. Percy launched the scythe at Typhon, the blade spinning in a deadly arc through the air.

The scythe hit Typhon in the chest and the storm giant let out another howl of pain. No mere mortal, Lord of Time or not, should be able to harm him like this. Typhon momentarily forgot about his leg, desperately trying to dislodge the tiny scythe from his body, Perseus used this to his advantage and sent more light into the ground, but this time, he planned on destroying a lot more than a leg.

Percy snaked the light up the Titan's body, moving upwards from his lower leg to his thigh. Perseus continued sending more and more light into the Titan and started wrapping its torso. The Titan of Storms had finally brought the scythe out of his chest, but he had been ignorant to the light snaking its way up his body.

Percy called his scythe to his hand and used the ancient artifact as a catalyst for his power. With a single slam of the weapon, Percy increased the intensity of the light to that of a supernova. Typhon tried to scream in pain, but found that he couldn't. The pain and lack of a leg became too much for the Titan and Typhon soon collapsed to the ground. Percy slowly made his way towards the downed storm giant's neck, looking to end the storm giant once and for all.

Percy's eyes continued to swirl with power, an ethereal sea green light coming off his body, mixing in with the white light already surrounding him. Percy climbed onto the storm giant's body and in one swing, he sank his scythe deep into Typhon's jugular.

Any sign of life immediately left the Titan of Storms and cracks spread throughout his body. An electric blue light seeped out of those cracks and moved towards Percy's body. As the light hit slammed into Perseus, he felt as if he was being shocked by a million volts of electricity over and over again, bringing Perseus to his knees in spasms. As the pain subsided, Percy looked down at his body and saw electricity dance across his fingertips.

Percy climbed down from the Typhon's body and watched as it turned into a cloud of black dust that would take whatever remained of his soul to the realm of the faded. The lightening that hit Perseus seemed to have rejuvenated him, giving Perseus the energy to at least stand without collapsing from exhaustion.

Percy took a few shaky steps towards what remained of the storm giant and started searching for the throwing knife he had thrown at Typhon; Percy had worked really hard on the engravings on that knife, and he'd be damned if he lost it. Finally Perseus had found it near the pit Typhon had his leg trapped in and blew the dust off.

As Percy reached to take of his helmet, a loud screech came from behind him; Percy knew that sound, The Horde was coming. On instinct, Perseus spun towards the sound and shot out his hand. Lightening fired off Perseus' fingertips and hit the monsters charging him, the lightening jumped from creature to creature, killing everything it touched. Percy immediately collapsed to the ground, he barely had enough energy to stand after his fight, much less shoot lightning out of his hand.

As darkness consumed Percy's vision, a small smile appeared on his face, '_Thalia is going to be so jealous.'_

**Well there it is, chapter 26. I hope y'all had enjoyed reading it as much as I had writing it. Thank you all for the support and ideas you gave me on the last chapter. **


	27. Chapter27

**Happy 2020 everyone! I hope this new year provides a time of stability and improvement for all of you. Personally I'm planning on working out more (ik ik, real original) and creating stronger relationships with my friends and family, lmk what your goals for the new decade are. **

**I'd like to formally thank Scythe11, Scythe had taken the time to talk with me about ways I could improve the story and what he would like to see going forward; proving support, ideas and well taken criticism. As I hope I mentioned before, my PMs are open to anyone and everyone, if you'd like to ask a question or bounce a few ideas off me without posting a review, I'd be more than happy to talk with you one on one. **

**Sorry for the long AN, let the story begin!**

_Manhattan, New York_

_August 17, 7:34 PM_

Ouranos has nearly awakened. Slowly but surely, the Primordial of the sky was forming a complete consciousness. As his legions of monsters swarmed Manhattan, many of the defense points held by the armies of Olympus had fallen, collapsing the entire defense plan constructed by the demigods.

The gods had tried to leave Olympus to help their children, but found themselves trapped in their own city, an invisible barrier blockading them from entering the mortal world. Hecate had determined the barrier was constructed of magic, but it was nothing she knew how to combat; this magic was ancient, likely put into place by Ouranos. The gods were forced to watch helpless as their children had been killed by monsters.

As Ouranos and his armies prepared for their attack, the gods could only hope for a miracle.

———

_The Edge, Tartarus_

_(?) Later_

Perseus has only one thing standing between him and walking upon the Earth once more: The Brood Queen. As Perseus had made his way across Absolute Darkness and into The Edge, he found the source of his never ending supply of enemies: Brood Mothers. The female members of The Horde stay well hidden in the caves and mountains scattered across the terrain, laying their eggs by the hundreds and providing a never ending supply of enemies for Perseus to kill.

To Perseus, the Brood Mothers were easy to locate once he found their nest, the only problem was actually _finding _the nest. The first time Perseus had stumbled upon one, he actually let out a good laugh, their sluggish bodies resembling what he could only describe as Jabba The Hutt's wife.

Percy had taken these Brood Mothers out systematically, killing every single one of their kind and torching the nests, preventing any more of their kind from spawning. Even with the Brood Mothers eliminated, Percy knew he wasn't finished, logic telling him that the Brood Queen - the one who created the Brood Mothers, still lurked somewhere in the darkness.

Percy had narrowed down its location to The Edge. The Edge was at the far end of Tartarus, where the land cut off and a ninety-degree wall erupted from the ground - preventing any monster from taking their life in the abyss of Chaos.

As Percy's luck would have it, the Brood Queen had hid herself at the edge of The Edge, hiding in a Horde made cave that lay right up against The Wall.

Percy wouldn't concern himself with killing every last being down here, their numbers were already so low that they could hardely kill a drakon, much less wipe out humanity. By killing their Brood Mothers and ending the Brood Queen, Percy would guarantee their extinction and The Horde will die out. If Perseus chose to kill them all, he'd waste years tracking down any monster that was smart enough to hide, years that he does not have.

Perseus was not ignorant to the war Ouranos was waging on the surface, he didn't know exactly how much time had passed in his absence, but it was definitely enough to raise a few armies and launch an invasion.

As Percy's light shone over the cave, a ghost of a smile was visible through his helmet - he's coming home.

Percy charged into the cave, prepared to fight anything he found - or so he thought. What Perseus found was bound to give any child of Athena nightmares to last a lifetime.

Crawling atop the ceiling was what Perseus could only describe as a combination of a caterpillar, a spider and a Brood Mother. Its sluggish body resembling a Brood Mother while having the abdomen of a spider and legs of a caterpillar. The Brood Queen noticed Perseus' presence and dropped from the ceiling, giant moth wings unfurling from its back and started flying around the air.

The small fact of the creature having wings had irritated Perseus to no end, _'Of course it has wings, why wouldn't it have wings? Everything else in this damned pit has wings, why not add another creature to the list?' _Percy was prepared to give any Primordial a godly sized slap upside the head for their lack of creativity.

Percy channeled that anger into his powers over storms and sent lightning flying towards the hideous beast, frying it nearly instantly. '_That was anticlimactic.' _Percy zapped it a few more times, whether the reason was to burn off his residual anger or to make sure it was completely dead, he couldn't tell you.

Percy left the cave and made his way to The Wall, along the way, Perseus unsheathed his two knives and started praying to whoever would listen that Minotaur horns were durable enough for what he had planned. Percy stuck his knives into the volcanic black wall as if they were ice picks and started climbing. As Percy gained confidence in his ability to scale the wall, he started increasing his speed at intervals. As Percy became fully confident in his climbing abilities, he started increasing his speed with his powers over time, moving hundreds of feet in mere seconds.

Percy soon reached the top of Tartarus, hanging high above the blood red clouds and jagged mountains. If there was any logic to the layout of Tartarus - which Perseus doubted, going straight up at the _edge _of Tartarus, should land him somewhere in New York, or at least somewhere within the United States.

Percy's current theory was that if falling to Tartarus from Greece landed him in the beginnings of the Pit, then climbing out the other side of Tartarus would spit him out on the other side of the world, AKA New York.

Percy dislodged his right knife from the wall and started channeling his powers over destruction. Perseus punched straight up into the ceiling, disintigrating a large area of rock above him. A grin appeared through Perseus' helmet, his path home was now clear.

———

_Manhattan, New York_

_August 17th, 11:51 PM_

The monster army had made their move to the little amount of demigods were still able to defend Olympus - many of them veterans of the last two wars.

As the battle waged all around the demigods, many were lost to the fighting. Leo Valdez fought along side his siblings, burning anything that came too close. A loud shout of pain came from his left and he saw his ingenious half brother Harley take a sword straight to the gut, the life already leaving his eyes. Leo became enraged and started throwing flaming variants of anything he could pull from his magic tool belt; hammers, screwdrivers, breathmints and a variety of nails were sent flying towards the enemies.

On the other side of the battle, Will Solace and Nico Di Angelo fought bravely alongside an army of undead. Will let loose arrow after arrow into the enemies as Nico cut down anything that tried to get too close. However, they were ignorant to the draceana perched up in the windows of building across from them. Nico noticed too late, he tried to erect a wall of darkness to protect them, but his summoning of the undead had already made him weak. As the arrows neared, Will kicked the legs out from under Nico and stood over him protectively, a smile adorning his face as he looked down at his husband. The arrows hit true and as Will Solace collapsed into the ground, Nico could see his life force slipping away from him, one heartbeat at a time. Nico spent a long time in shock, holding the dead body of his lover as his skeleton army protected him.

The draceana attempted this tactic in other places as well, but were cut down by silver arrows as soon as they came into view. Thalia Grace stayed along side her sisters as they sent arrows into the monster army. Suddenly, the daughter of Zeus was tackled to the side, Thalia looked to where she had stood and saw Zoë with an arrow in her back leg. Thalia immediately ran to Zoë and carried her inside the Empire State Building, that wolf had saved her life too many times for her to die. As Thalia removed the arrow from its leg she let out a sigh of relief, it was only a flesh wound, she couldn't imagine what would happen if Percy found out his companion had been crippled - or worse. Thalia bandaged the wound and went back outside, as she went past the armory tent, an idea popped into her mind.

Thalia ran into the armory tent and grabbed all of the training packets she could carry and sprinted back to the front lines. Praying her plan would work, she pulled the tabs on multiple packets and launched them. Suddenly, hundreds of automations appeared in the middle of the monster army and started cutting down anything near them. Thalia continued this tactic across the entire battlefield, summoning thousands of metallic warriors to kill the monsters.

The now much smaller army of monsters started to pull back and the battle seemed to be won, but Ouranos had other plans. Lightning flashed across the sky and the clouds began to leave the atmosphere. The constellations started to glow brightly from their place in the heavens and a deep laughter resonated throughout the night sky; Ouranos still had one trick up his sleeve. The demigods will perish tonight, and Olympus will fall with them.

**Well I hope you enjoy being left on a cliff hanger, as always I hope you enjoyed and have a great day. **

**Questions are answered below (there's a lot)**

**Q1: can you add a Pertemis ship?**

**A1: As much as I would like to (I do think that it would work well with this story) I don't think there's enough time to add any ship that would actually be meaningful.**

**Q2: Since he has Titan lightning powers, would Zeus' master bolt even work on him?**

**A2: Maybe. Maybe not. You can find out for yourself in a couple chapters. **

**Q3: How are The Horde able to find Percy in the dark?**

**A3: Like I said in their descriptions, The Horde don't have eyes. I probably should've clarified it better, but I implied that they use their other senses such as hearing and smell to fight.**

**Q4/Q5: How was he able to defeat Typhon so easily? How could he kill so much of The Horde in only a few centuries? **

**A4/A5: Yeah so I made a typo in the last chapter, in the dialog between Typhon and Percy I meant to put '_hundred of _centuries' not just 'centuries' meaning that Percy was down in the pit for a really long time and he had a lot of time to increase his powers. Also the curse of Achilles helped, the curse physically doesn't let you stop fighting unless you are either out of enemies or dead - it's why it's called a curse. **

**Q6: How did time pass so differently from Earth?**

**A6: I'd put it down to a certain old man that likes to make _time_ puns, drink juice boxes, tell stories of protogenoi (who are the oldest _known_ beings) and train Perseus in the ways of a Lord of _Time. _AKA Nēram. I hope you guys figure out the reason why.**

**Q7: Why couldn't Percy cry for his losses? Nobody was there to judge him.**

**A7: Percy still has the hero mindset, it was drilled so deep into his brain by everyone around him that it still stops him from doing anything out of the 'hero' norm. **

**Q8: Why did he take the designs off the armour?**

**A8: I took the designs off because a lot of them depicted the light and dawn (it was Hyperion's armour) and that could give his position away to any monsters besides The Horde. Q12 gives you some more of my reasoning for it.**

**Q9: How is the lack of food and sleep effecting Percy?**

**A9: It's making him more ruthless and aggressive in killing The Horde. A lack of food and sleep can dull or heighten a person's senses and emotions. In this case, it dulled Percy's sense of remorse and made him more angry towards The Horde; giving him plenty of inspiration to keep on killing.**

**Q10/Q11: So is it just their immortality that Percy can't assimilate from Titans and Giants? Can Percy bless people since he has the powers of Titans and Giants?**

**A10/A11: Yeah it's just their immortality, Olympian genes and Titan and Giant immortality don't mix. No he can't bless anyone. He's still a demigod and has blood running through his veins, blessing people is part of the ichor expansion pack. **

**Q12: Can any of the monsters even see Percy a conventional sense?**

**A12: Yeah. The monsters have adapted to the darkness and landscape of Tartarus, their eyes would be much better fitted to the darkness.**

**Good gods that took way too long. Sorry for not answering your questions but I had a lot of ideas for writing and cranked out multiple chapters at once and I didn't really give you guys any time for asking questions and they just kept piling up. I hope you guys understand the plot a lot better now.**


	28. Chapter28

**Thank you guys for the support on the last chapter, especially Adamcoyne, AngeloMK and chimera629, who were some of the first people to have read my story. Those three I mentioned have continually commented their questions, expressed their support, and helped me improve my writing since day one. There are many more that I would like to mention but I don't think you guys would like to read that..**

**I'm going to cut this AN short and get straight into the chapter, hope you enjoy!**

_Manhattan, New York_

_August 18th, 12:09 AM_

_3rd POV_

A powerful roar emitted from above the city, as the demigods looked up to find what could've been the source of the noise, they noticed that many of the constellations were missing from their places across the sky.

To many of The Hunters, this didn't make any sense, they started to do a headcount of what was missing. What they found utterly confused them; the constellations Draco, Scorpius, Orion, Hydra and Leo were all unable you be seen. Suddenly, a bright blue portal opened high in the sky and another earthshaking roar sent shivers down the demigods' spines.

The legendary dragon Draco came flying through the portal. The chest of the dragon burning bright with white hot flames, ready to incinerate anything that dared to fight it. The claws of the ancient monster seemed sharp enough to cut through celestial bronze as if it was tissue paper. Draco's eyes held a manic look, its orange pupils scanning the crowd of demigods as if judging which one of them he should eat first.

The dragon decided and swooped down, taking the life of Malcom Pace in between his jaws. The dragon swooped down again, spraying fire across the depleted ranks of the legion. The Romans hastily locked their shields and prevented any more deaths, for now.

Suddenly, the Earth started shaking and clouds filled the once clear sky; although none of them wanted to say it, The Hunters had noticed more stars starting to glow before the clouds covered them from view. The wind begun to pick up and buckets of rain began pouring down from the heavens, lightning and thunder flashing spontaneously; the change of weather was so powerful that many thought Zeus himself was coming to save them. One particularly powerful bolt of lightning struck the wing of Draco, sending the dragon of legend spiraling into the ground. The dragon crashed into many buildings - causing millions in property damage until it finally landed in front of the demigods.

Even though the dragon was clearly out of it, none of the demigods dared to try and kill it, rightfully fearing the powerful jaws and fire of the ancient monster.

Another powerful bolt of lightning landed right in front of the demigods, blinding and disorienting all of the demigods present. When their vision cleared, a large man fully clad in black, spartan armour stood infront of them, his back facing them. The man didn't seem to be bothered by the extreme weather - apparently, his clothes weren't either, his black cape only billowing slightly in the wind.

The man pulled a similarly black shield and a fearsome spear off his back and muttered something about hating dragons. As the warrior went to end the dragon's life, another portal opened up right in front of him, this time, a Nemean Lion falling out.

The lion let loose a powerful roar and many of the demigods took an instinctive step back, but this unnamed warrior continued marching straight towards the monster. The Nemean Lion opened its mouth to bite the man in half, but stopped halfway through, a golden light surrounding the creature of myth. Without breaking stride, the man launched his spear down the throat of the Nemean and continued walking towards the now awakening dragon.

The Nemean Lion turned to golden dust and the spear planted itself into the concrete, the impenetrable pelt of the beast laying on the ground. The man held out his hand and his spear came flying towards him. Seeing this, Thalia Grace got a few suspicions of who this man was and couldn't keep the smile off her face, '_They're so screwed.'_

Perseus was only a few feet from the dragon when Draco shot into the air, not wanting to become the first dragon-on-a-stick. The dragon flew into the air, its powerful wings pushing it faster and faster until it suddenly stopped, a golden glow surrounding the majestic beast. In a blink of an eye, a spear pierced the dragon's underbelly and continued flying through the scales on its back. As the spear continued flying through the air, the man walked under the still suspended dragon and held his arm in the air; the spear came flying down, going straight through the dragon once again, crating two more holes in its body.

Draco suddenly started moving once again, but it immediately fell to the ground, black blood flowing from its wounds. The man went to finish the ancient dragon when he suddenly turned and caught an arrow aimed at a chink in his armour. The demigods watched all of this frozen in shock and fear, rightfully scared of both the man and the beasts he's killed.

The man dropped the arrow and turned back around, without looking, he threw a knife into a glass window. The cries of pain resounding from the building did nothing to help quell the demigods' fear of the man. The warrior continued his march towards the bleeding dragon, who had crashed straight through multiple floors of the Chrysler Building and now laid in a half-dead state, blood pooling around it like the water pooling in the rain outside.

Two more portals were brought into reality and the man seemed to let out an annoyed sigh, apparently, he _really _wanted to kill that dragon; the demigods assumed that he has had bad experiences with dragons in the past - where he found the dragons, they didn't have the slightest notion.

A scorpion the size of an SUV and a twelve headed hydra came out the portals, eager to kill the man clad in black. With the man fighting off a two pronged attacked, what remained of the monster army charged the demigods.

What was left of the armies of Olympus fought valiantly, but after a day of fighting, they couldn't gain any ground in the seemingly never ending army of monsters.

The man clad in black expertly fought off the two legendary monsters, waiting patiently for either of the two beings to slip up. Evidently, it would be Scorpius that would die first. The monster had tried to impale the man with its stinger, putting all of its tremendous strength behind the attack; Scorpius missed and accidentally embedded his stinger in the concrete, struggling to pull it out. The man in black started climbing the metasomal segments of Scorpius' tail and halfway through, jumped down on its body. The man pulled his celestial bronze sword out of its scabbard and stabbed down into the gargantuan sized scorpion's brain, killing it instantly.

Scorpius dissapeared in a cloud of golden dust, leaving the man sitting in the air with nothing to hold him up. He fell on his rear and was forced to dodge and block under the assault of the hydra. The man was getting irritated, this fight should've ended a long time ago. He started glowing a bright, white light, blinding all twelve of the hydra's heads.

Faster than thought, the light surrounding the man lashed out and wrapped its way around each of the hydra's necks, slowly burning its way until they all fell off; the hydra tried to scream in agony, but the light hardened, constricting all twelve of its throats and preventing any sound from escaping the dying monster.

The man started hacking his way through the back of the monster army, clearing a path towards the Chrysler building. Anything that dared to step in his path was cut down with ease; cyclops, centaurs, hell hounds, draceana, laistryogonian giants, and many more fell to his blade.

As the man left the battlefield and into the Chrysler building, silver and bronze arrows started raining down into the army of monsters, cutting down troops of monsters with each volley.

Jason Grace called down lightning bolt after lightning bolt, using the already brewing storm to help ease the effort summoning lightning required. He commanded the fifth cohort with expertise only a former praetor of New Rome could have, filling in the role of Dakota, who had died earlier in the battle.

Through the darkness, a flash of light could be seen coming from the Chrysler building, followed by a loud roar that would be abruptly cut off.

Lightning and thunder started landing in bundles, killing tens of monsters with each strike. Even though they had far greater numbers, the monsters knew they were outmatched, and began to retreat.

The demigods, despite their win, didn't celebrate. They were too busy grieving for the friends and family they've lost to enjoy their victory; many of them knew the cost of fighting this war, but for some, the price was too high.

As the man in black started walking towards the Empire State Building, all of the demigods immediately went silent, not sure whether they should thank or fear the warrior. Annabeth Chase, the ever so curious daughter of Athena, would decide for them, "Who are you?"

The man just ignored her and started scanning the area, "Hey who do you think you are? You can't just ignore someone." The man continued to ignore her, still scanning the area for something, not seeing it, he let out a loud whistle. An excited bark came from inside the Empire State Building and out came a sprinting wolf. The demigods watched on in confusion as Zoë, despite her bad leg, tackled the man to the ground started yapping excitedly; Zoë tried to lick the man's face, but continually found her tongue blocked by a visor and helmet, which she started pawing at.

A deep laugh resonated from under the helm, "Okay, okay, I'll take it off." The man took off his helmet and a collective gasp escaped the lips of all demigods present. The man, now revealed to be Perseus Jackson, looked around as if he just noticed the presence of everyone here, "Oh, hey guys, glad you're still alive."

Leo Valdez was the first to snap out of his shock and walked up to Perseus, who was still petting Zoë. Leo reached Percy and sent a small ball of flames at his old friend; the fire dissipated nearly immediately, even though the rain had dried up as the battle finished. "You're going to have to do better than that, Valdez."

Leo sent another fire ball at Percy - who still hadn't looked away from his wolf, this one much stronger. Again, the flames died out as it left his hand, "I know you've been getting older Leo, but I didn't expect you to be having performance issues this early in life."

Percy's armour shimmered and transformed into clothes and a backpack, which immediately upset Leo, "Hey, I was looking at that. Where'd you even get armour like that? It looked amazingly well crafted."

"I sent Hyperion to the void," he replied simply. Percy didn't even notice the confused and shocked expressions everyone held, he was too busy inspecting the wound Zoë had obtained earlier. As he unwrapped the bandage, the ground started shaking and the sun began to glow brighter; puddles on the ground began churning and storm clouds appeared in the sky once more.

Percy took a deep breath and everything started going back to normal, much to the relief of everyone watching. Percy waved his hand over the wound and watched it heal right before his eyes. He waved his hand again and any fur Zoë had lost grew back at impossible speeds; when he was done, there was no way you would've been able to tell there was an arrow wound in the first place.

"Dude! Since when could you do that? And -" Leo stopped firing off his questions as Percy began moving. He walked over to where he had killed the Nemean Lion and picked up its spoils of war. He tossed the golden hide to Thalia Grace, the pelt shifting into a leather jacket halfway through the air, "I'll tell you my story, on one condition: we get some food. I haven't eaten in a few millennia.

———

_Shake Shack, 1333 Broadway St, Manhattan_

_3:58 AM, August 18th_

Percy explained his story inbetween seven hamburgers and a multitude of different flavored milkshakes, all created by Leo, who had taken a fondness to cooking over the years. Percy had only allowed a select few people to come with him and hear his story; Thalia, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Nico, Leo and Zoë were all chosen, however, Nico opted out of coming.

Percy told them mostly everything from his fall into the Styx to the extinction of The Horde, keeping out a few of the more horrific details of his travels. Hazel looked at Percy worriedly, she knew from Nico what Tartarus could do to someone's mind, "Percy," she reached out and grabbed his hand, "are you okay?"

The question sounded so strange to Percy, as if 'okay' was a concept he couldn't understand, he gave Hazel a weak smile, "Of course I am." Percy tried to sound confident and not let anyone know what was going on inside his mind, but his eyes gave away his true feelings: he hasn't been okay for a long time.

Leo sensed the tension and decided to break it with a low whistle, "So you were down there for hundreds of centuries; Does that make you older than Zeus? 'Cause if so that's awesome." Piper elbowed Leo in the side and charm spoke him into going back to the kitchen.

Hazel continued pressing on, "Why don't you ever stop fighting Percy? The weight of the world doesn't have to fall solely on your shoulders, you have friends to help you." Percy's shoulders slumped and he got a faraway look in his eyes, "I wish I could stop, but I know I can't. The day I put my sword down is the day the weight I've been bearing my entire life falls onto someone else, I couldn't live with myself if I let that happen; you guys don't deserve to see the things I've seen - no one does. The Fates have set you all on paths full of peace and happiness, I walk a different path.

"At some point, you all will join your friends in Elysium and party it up for eternity, I am cursed to walk this Earth forever." Zoë, who was sitting next to Percy, nuzzled her head in his shoulder, "At least I won't be alone, eh Zoë?" Zoë barked her agreement, causing a smile to find its way onto Percy's face.

Thalia sent a small shock of lightning to Percy, which he didn't notice; his new powers over storms negated any effects lightning could have on him, which seriously bummed Thalia out. "Ah c'mon Jackson, you'll always have me and the rest of The Hunt. If we make it through this whole war, I'll get Lisa to give you her secret recipe."

Percy let out a small laugh, "Thanks Thals, but it wouldn't make a difference. All food just tastes the same to me nowadays, I couldn't even tell the difference between any of these milkshakes, I just wanted to see if Leo could actually make any of them. Maybe I'll get a few taste buds back in a couple centuries, but I think the Styx burned them all away."

Piper tried to lighten the mood, "So, spill the tea, who did you see?" Percy gave her a confused look, "The tea? I didn't see anyone in the Styx if that's what you're asking, I had to pull myself out, but what in the name of Poseidon does 'tea' mean?" This elicited a laugh from everyone except Hazel, who didn't know either.

Leo poked his head out the kitchen door, a shit-eating grin spread across his face, "Hey Aquaman, guess what today is." Percy scanned the room to find anything that would give him a hint, only to find nothing, "How would I know Leo? It's not like I kept a calendar with me when I was walking across the pit of eternal damnation."

Leo frowned, "Yeah I didn't think of that." The smile that previously adorned his face came back as fast as it left, "Anyways, it's your birthday!" Leo walked out of the kitchen with a chocholate cake, adorned with blue and green sprinkles, "I know its not a blue cake, but I took the time to separate all the other sprinkles into a bowl and only put the blue and green ones; I left the green because there was too many of them and I wasn't ready for that type of work."

Percy let out a genuine laugh, "Thanks Leo, I haven't had any blue food since I was with The Hunt."

Percy spent the next couple hours laughing along with his friends, eating chocholate cake and listening to Leo's stories. As they all left to get some sleep for the fighting that would happen later, Percy sat on the roof of the Empire State Building, not able to fall alseep. He sat there running his hands through Zoë's fur and strumming a small tune on his guitar; apparently Zoë had kept his backpack with her throughout the years, not willing to let it go.

Maybe Ouranos awakens and ends the world, maybe he will finally die and get some lasting peace in the afterlife, but one thing was certain to Perseus: he wouldn't be going down without a fight.

**Well there it is, chapter 28. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! Make sure to leave a review, anything and everything helps. :P**


	29. Chapter29

**Hey guys, chapter 29 coming at you hot. I really don't have anything to say except that I hope you all have had an amazing day, and with that, let's get right into the story.**

_Manhattan, New York_

_August 18th, 5:42 PM_

_3rd POV_

The demigods were scrambling to prepare their defenses, using whatever traps they had left to reinforce their position. The demigods worked harder than ever, Greek and Roman banding together to get an impossible amount of work done before the monsters returned. Just a day prior, none of them would have been this motivated to do anything - even with the fate of the world in their hands, but now, they had something they didn't have for a long time: hope.

The arrival of Percy Jackson brought that hope, the return of Olympus' greatest warrior ignited a fire in each of the demigods' hearts; they had their hero back. Nobody except a few of his closest friends had actually seen Percy since he had left after the battle, but the constant strumming of the guitar and howling of a wolf assured them he was still there.

The demigods used whatever they could to try and create barricades; broken pieces of concrete and plants grown by children of Demeter and Ceres were both viable options. Frank Zhang was overseeing all of these changes when one of his scouts, Mark Sanchez, came running up to him, "Praetor Zhang..." he stopped to catch his breath, "The monsters.. are amassing in Central Park, I think... they're planning on going straight down fifth avenue."

Frank nodded, he already knew all of this, "Anything else, Legionnaire?" The son of Mercury nodded furiously, still trying to regain his breath from sprinting all the way from Central Park, "I couldn't tell who, but there was definitely a godly presence there, definitely a Titan, maybe more." Frank became worried, they could barely take the monsters alone, now they had a Titan to worry about.

From behind Frank, Percy's voice rang out, "I'll take 5th Avenue." Frank had nearly jumped out of his skin. He had not heard Percy sneaking up behind him, which should be impossible considering all the weapons and armour he was wearing. Frank quickly dismissed Mark and turned to face his black clad friend, "What do you mean, you'll take 5th Avenue? There's going to be an army of monsters marching straight down that street."

Percy took off his helmet and looked Frank dead in the eye, "I'll take 5th Avenue and hold it until all the monsters are dead, I'll have the Hunters of Artemis behind me to shoot down any monster that gets past me.

"You and your Romans can hold Broadway and 6th Avenue while the Greeks spread out and cover our flanks; the archers from the Apollo cabin will join you." Frank analyzed his plan, it had merit, but he still didn't like the idea of Percy going Mano a Mano with thousands of monsters and a Titan, "With all due respect Percy, I don't see how you could possibly hold your own."

Percy looked off into the distance, "I was born for war Frank, handcrafted by the Fates themselves. I am a demigod son of Poseidon, a Lord of Time, the bane of all monsters." Percy turned back to Frank, "Too many have died while I was in Tartarus, I will not allow anymore blood to be shed in this war." Percy put his helmet back on and walked into a puddle and dissapeared, not leaving any room for discussion.

Frank went to find Hazel and the rest of the Seven, he needed to let them know what was going on. He found them all chatting away in the command tent, "Guys. I think Percy is suicidal." That had gotten their attention, Frank explained Percy's plan, how he intended to hold 5th Avenue alone.

When he finished, a silence hung over the group like a rain cloud. Surprisingly, it was Thalia Grace, who had been making a pastrami sandwich at the other end of the tent, that spoke up, "Well if Percy wants to do it, let him."

All heads immediately snapped to the lieutenant of Artemis, who just shrugged indifferently, "Percy isn't the same kid that was constantly sent on quests. He fell into Tartarus - alone - and fought down there for longer than we can even comprehend, he even killed Typhon for gods sake; If he holds 5th Avenue, the monsters will just be marching to their deaths, and my hunters will be there to back him up." Thalia took a bite of her sandwich and walked away, leaving a stunned group of demigods.

———

_Manhattan, New York_

_August 18th, 10:22 PM_

As predicted, the monster army marched down 5th Avenue, small detachments broke off this army and went down Broadway and Madison Avenue. Ouranos continued to gain in power and a majority of the gods were trapped on Olympus; bar Poseidon, who was fighting a war of his own at the bottom of the sea.

Percy Jackson waited patiently for the monsters to make it past 42nd Street, where he would stop them dead in their path. Percy looked at the army that was quickly making its way towards him and inspected their ranks; he found nothing of interest. Most of the stronger monsters had been vanquished in the earlier stages of the war, but he did pick up on two godly presences in the back of the army; one of which, he recognized.

Percy slowly got up and put his helmet on. He firmly planted his greaves in the asphalt road and readied his sword and shield. The first monster to reach him was a hellhound, it was also the first to be killed, celestial bronze piercing through its body. Percy charged the monsters, whirling through their ranks and killing any monster that dared to face him. Many had tried to run past the demigod, only to find a silver arrow between the eyes.

The Romans defended 6th Avenue with ferocity, impaling many monsters with their _pila_ and imperial gold weaponry as they tried to break their shield wall. The Apollo cabin sent volleys of arrows into the monsters, killing anything lowered its shield. The Greeks defended Madison Avenue, repelling smaller teams of monsters that would try and slip behind their ranks.

The monsters continued their failed charge down 5th Avenue, the monsters' moral was rapidly depleting, but running away was not an option with two Titans and Ouranos watching over them. Percy reached St Patrick's Cathedral and realized he was overextending and retreated back down to 37th Street, not willing to give the monsters an opportunity to sneak around him and overwhelm the hunters.

Percy heard some ineligible shouting from the back of the army and all movement immediately ceased. Percy took this as a time to taunt his enemies, "Krios! I know you're back there, come out and face me! Or will you continue to hide behind these worthless monsters?"

More shouting came from the back of the army and the monsters all moved to the side, clearing a wide path down the middle of their ranks. Down this lane came two Titans, one clad in stygian iron armor and a rams helmet and the other wearing a goatskin while brandishing a celestial bronze spear; Krios and Pallas.

Percy sheathed _Riptide _and slung his shield over his shoulder. He pulled _Time's March _off his back and watched it transform into the Scythe of Kronos; he planned on ending these two Titans permanently. Seeing the weapon, the two Titans faltered in step, they knew all too well the damage it could do.

Pallas and Krios continued walking down the aisle anyway, not believing that a mortal could kill them - Scythe of Kronos or not. Percy smiled at this, immortals always were overconfident, their hubris will be their doom. Percy continued taunting them, "Come Krios, come forth and reclaim your brother Hyperion's armor! You can give it to him when you reach the void.

"Come and face me Pallas, o' mighty Titan of Warfare. Come kill the man that ended your brother Perses." With each word he spoke, the Titans were getting exponentially more irritated, a mere demigod was calling them out, flaunting the deaths of their fellow Titans.

The three of them stood in the middle of an intersection, the two Titans glaring daggers at Perseus. Percy smirked under his helmet, he had missed angering immortal stepped forward, "You will die for those insults, mortal."

As the two Titans charged him, he slammed his scythe into the ground and unleashed the power of time. Both Krios and Pallas were basically motionless and stood frozen not two feet away from Perseus. Percy started walking around the Titans, attempting to intimidate the also frozen monsters. "Feast your eyes on the greatest warriors Ouranos could send to kill me: Krios and Pallas!"

Percy turned towards the Titans and cut both of their heads off in one swing of his scythe. As their heads hit the floor, the monsters found themselves unfrozen and immediately sprinted away from Perseus, running as if their lives depended on it - which it did.

Pallas' body was the first to be sent to the void, blood red light breaking through cracks in his body. The light slammed into Perseus and he felt as if he were stabbed with a thousand knives, each one twisting its way out. As he got up, a white light that shined as bright as the stars knocked him back to the ground. Percy tried not to scream in pain as Krios' power over stars and constellations burned its way through his body.

Percy got up and gave a thumbs up sign to Thalia and the other hunters, indicating that he was still alive. Thalia came running over to her cousin, "Why did you let them run?"

Percy just shrugged, "I didn't want you to waste arrows, your supply is already low." Percy looked up to the sky as it started rumbling, "Besides, I think we have bigger problems; Ouranos is about to wake."

Percy's armor changed back into his clothes and he immediately started searching his bag, "Thalia, I need some drachmas." Thalia didn't even ask why, and tossed him a bag full of the golden coins. Percy caught it and sprinted off towards the Empire State Building, claiming he had a few calls he needed to make.

**Well I'm going to leave it at that, have fun waiting a few days to find out what's going to happen :)**

**Questions I received are answered below**

**Q1: If Percy can water travel, why didn't he use one of his water bottles to leave Tartarus?**

**A1: I think it was mentioned in MoA or HoH (I'm not sure) but Nico said that he had tried to shadow travel out of Tartarus but he wasn't able to, I applied that same logic to his water travel.**


	30. Chapter30

**Well here it is, chapter 30. It's about to go down.**

_Manhattan, New York_

_August 18th, 11:34 PM_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

As the last of the monsters retreated, thunder started booming from above. Lightning fell down in the hundreds and a deep laugh echoed throughout the world. Ouranos has awakened.

Lightning struck demigod after demigod, killing them instantly. They immediately took to the buildings, hiding away from the wrath of the primordial of the sky.

Ouranos started to take a physical form, clouds began to condense together in the vague shape of a man. Golden wings made of the wind formed on Ouranos' back and a sword made of thunder appeared in his hands. When the sword landed in his hands, the clouds started to harden and began to resemble pale skin.

When the process was finished, Ouranos could've passed for a human - if he wasn't fifteen feet tall, bulging with muscles, wearing golden wings and holding a sword made of lightning. Ouranos shot up into the sky, going straight through the barrier he constructed and reaching Olympus.

Percy Jackson was hot on his tail, he immediately ran into the Empire State Building and grabbed the key card hidden behind the desk. Percy tried to touch the elevator button going up, but he was knocked back by an impossibly strong gust of wind.

Percy took a better look at the door and realized that there was a continually present wall of wind there, preventing anything from getting near it. Scythe in hand, he slowed time all around him to a near crawl and walked towards the elevator. Even in its slowed state, the wind pushed against Percy, trying to keep him away from the elevator doors. Percy didn't have time for this, he slammed his scythe into the marble floor, further slowing time.

The wind wasn't even strong enough to bother a fly. Percy sprinted towards the elevator and pushed the up button. When the elevator finally arrived, he ran through the doors, inserted the key card and pushed the button to the 600th floor. The elevator started moving painstakingly slow.

Percy spent the next three minutes listening to Apollo singing Led Zepplein's Stairway to Heaven until the doors finally opened, relieving Perseus of his punishment. Percy tried to escape the elevator but ran into a bright blue force field that knocked him back into the elevator car; he assumed this was what kept the gods trapped on Olympus.

He slammed the end of his scythe into the force field, channeling the power of destruction into the ancient weapon. The weapon hit true and cracks spread throughout the barrier. Percy slammed the butt of his scythe into the barrier over and over again, destroying the blue wall piece by piece. With one final shout he slammed the black wood one last time in a powerful overhead strike. The barrier surrounding Olympus collapsed, allowing anyone to come and go as they pleased.

As Percy ran towards the throne room, he looked around the grand city of Olympus and found it in ruins; statues were destroyed and many buildings were nothing more than dust, it reminded him eerily of the time Kronos made his way through Olympus. Percy heard fighting from the throne room and immediately picked up his pace.

As he barged through the throne room doors, he found most of the gods incapacitated; Ares was lying in a pool of his ichor near the door - Aphrodite was next to him. Demeter, Hestia, Dionysus, Hera and Hephaestus were all unconscious in their thrones. Hermes was halfway through one of the marble walls next to Athena, who was also bleeding profusely. Apollo was firing golden arrows into Ouranos while Zeus, Hades and Artemis fought the Primordial hand to hand.

Zeus used his master bolt like a sword, swinging the godly weapon wildly at Ouranos, Hades had summoned his helm of darkness and swung an actual sword made of stygian iron while Artemis used her hunting knives, elegantly dancing around Ouranos with skill only acquired through thousands of years of practice.

The sky god fended off all these attacks with ease, dodging, blocking and parrying their attacks as fast as lighting. Percy just hoped his plan would work. Percy threw his throwing knife at the sky god, hoping to catch him by surprise and maybe get a lucky hit in, evidently, today wasn't his lucky day. Ouranos unleashed a wave of power, knocking all the gods away and sending his knife flying out the throne room, "Perseus Jackson, I'm so glad you could join us."

The blast knocked Zeus and Hades off their feet, sending them back a couple yards. Apparently it wasn't Artemis' lucky day either; she had been too close to Ouranos and had been sent flying into the wall. Apollo immediately dropped his bow and went to check his unconscious twin for any injuries. Ouranos let out a long, maniacal laugh, "I am so excited that you're here. I must say, I am curious, what hope do you cling to young demigod? Even now, away from the sky and my domain, I am more powerful than you can imagine. What drives your never ending ambition to protect these so called _gods_?

"When I sent you to Tartarus, you could've easily left at any given point, but you stayed. You stayed to slaughter The Horde, an ancient race that even your gods don't even know about. Tell me Perseus, what makes the slaughter of billions worth it? Your fragile mortal mind has been pushed past its limits and beyond, it's a miracle you haven't been driven to insanity. You stayed in Tartarus for longer than you even know," Ouranos started laughing again, "and you're a Lord of Time!

"You - a mere mortal - have slain more immortals than this entire council combined, for what? You Perseus are in a never ending cycle of war and death, and these gods gave you partial immortality, forcing you to walk among the living while your friends and family perish."

Percy allowed for Ouranos to continue his rant while his plan was put into place. The words of the Primordial meant nothing to Perseus, he already told them to himself every night. "Yes but I have seen what these _Olympians_ have not. Behind that helm and visor, and all of those walls you've put up, you're tired. You're tired of fighting, of being the hero, of living, but you never can die, can you? No. Your gods won't allow the one thing you crave the most: _Peace_. Lay down your weapons and submit to me Perseus, and I will grant you the quick death you desire."

Percy had to admit, Ouranos made him a good offer, but he knew that now wasn't the time to be selfish. Percy stomped his foot, sending a small tremor throughout the entirety of Olympus. Acting on his unspoken cue, two more immortals dropped through the ceiling and onto the battle field. Now was their one chance of defeating Ouranos, "Use the chains!"

Poseidon and Iapetus had came through the roof, both holding godly level celestial bronze chains in each hand. They both landed on Ouranos and wrapped both of his arms in the celestial bronze. Poseidon tossed another chain to Zeus and Iapetus gave one to Hades. Together, the four immortals brought a subdued Ouranos to the ground and wrapped his arms and legs in the celestial bronze chains as Perseus made his way across the throne room, twirling his scythe, "Hold him still."

Perseus took his helmet off and started chanting in a language he didn't understand. As the words flowed off his tongue, his voice amplified a hundred times over, "_Ouranos, Guardian of The Heavens, Primordial of The Sky, your existence on this Earth is forbidden. The Laws of The Ancients prohibit your presence in the mortal world; Time has been chosen to remedy this mistake." _Percy's eyes had turned golden, pulsing with the barely contained power of Time.

As Kronos had done before him, Percy began cutting Ouranos into pieces.

The Primordial of The Sky howled in pain, his cries shaking the Earth. He was at the complete mercy of Perseus Jackson, the celestial bronze chains restricting any movement or use of his powers. With each slice of his scythe, the unrivaled power of Time ran rampant throughout Ouranos' body, destroying any piece of his being that was removed. With each slash, Ouranos' consciousness was being ripped away as his essence and soul were destroyed.

Percy spent the next hour cutting Ouranos into pieces, removing the essence from his body, piece by piece. When he was finished, Ouranos turned into a black dust, never to walk to mortal world again. Percy dropped his scythe and looked down at his hands, not believing what he had done. Killing someone and sending them to the void was one thing - it was a necessary evil. But slowly ripping a being's soul out his body, removing his essence - the very structure of his immortal body - and destroying his mind, was something completely else.

He stiffly walked over to the Hearth and sat down, not hearing Poseidon or Apollo calling his name. He spent a long time sitting there, coming to terms with what he had done. It took him hours of contemplating to accept what had happened, the power of the Hearth helping him clear his mind.

By the time he came back to reality, the award ceremony was well on its way, "- the Olympian Council had decided to pardon you for all of your past crimes. You, Iapetus, Titan of Mortality, are free to roam the Earth once more." Cheering could be heard from behind Perseus, apparently there was a crowd.

As the applause died down, Zeus started speaking again, "Someone check if Perseus is back yet." Dionysus jumped off his throne, thyrsus in hand. Being poked by a wine god was something Perseus would not stand for, "If you touch me with that stick, I'll shove it so far up your _podex _Apollo wouldn't be able to get it out."

Percy got up from his spot and walked over to the middle of the room, not bothering to bow to any of the gods. He knew he was more powerful than any of the gods, he had no reason to fear or respect them; Percy assumed the only reason they didn't bow to _him_ was the ichor running through their veins and the blood running through his.

As Percy walked, he had slowed time all around him, making his stroll seem a lot longer than it actually was. He was really sick of the gods, they're mostly assholes, but some of them are cool. Percy didn't want to ruin the friendships he had with any of the decent gods by 'blatantly disrespecting them', so he decided to subtly disrespect them.

"Perseus Jackson. For your heroic acts during and before the war, we - the Olympian Council - have decided to grant you one, undeniable wish - as long as it's within our power." It didn't take Percy long to decide what he wanted, however it did take him a while to decide how he wanted to say it.

He decided on the classic approach, "Leave me alone." Percy turned on his heel and walked out the door, giving Zeus the one finger salute.

"He can't just do that!"

"He can do that?"

"Pedro is leaving?"

"Who does he think he is?"

"What -"

That was all Perseus had heard before the throne room doors closed behind him. Percy went down the elevator one last time before he walked away, Zoë on his heels. That was the last the world would see of Perseus Jackson for a long time.

**There it is, chapter 30. I'm sorry to say but besides the epilogue I'm writing (might consist of two chapters, depending on how much you guys like it) the story is basically over. Thank you all for the support you've given me, this was my first book I ever wrote and when I started, I did not have any confidence in my writing abilities. As I continued to write you guys helped me improve and gave me constant motivation through your reviews. I love you all.**

**As always, questions are answered below**

**Q1: Is Percy evil?**

**A1: I wouldn't say evil, but he definitely has a dark side. I love a bright, optimistic, sassy Percy but after spending all that time in Tartarus, I don't think he'd be the same person; that's why I showed him killing Krios and Pallas in the way he did.**

**Q2: What happened to Annabeth?**

**A2: The question isn't really clear so I'm going to give you what I get from it (sorry if I don't get it right). In terms of being with the seven, I had them kinda shun her for cheating on Percy, I didn't really express that fact in the story because I didn't want to focus on it (it annoys me when other authors keep bringing it up). I am perfectly fine with Annabeth as a character, in fact she's one of my favorites, but I had to give Percy a reason to leave CHB. Also I couldn't really just ignore the fact that I wrote she cheated on him so I just left her out. Hope I got it right lol.**

**Q3: Would Percy fight when he's upset about Annabeth?**

**A3: I don't see why he would be upset about her. Percy had been in Tartarus for a long time, Annabeth cheating on him thousands of years (Tartarus time) ago wouldn't really have a big mental block on him, especially when he had much more pressing concerns on his mind (i.e being in Tartarus, The Horde, new Time powers, Ouranos). Sorry if I came off rude on this one, I don't really know how to answer it. **


	31. Epilogue

**Hey guys, this epilogue isn't really relevant to the story, it's more like the aftermath. I hope you enjoy! **

**P.S: I will be making another story, if you enjoy my writing just hold on and I'll get back to you soon. I have a relative idea for what I want to write but any new ideas are always appreciated - PM me.**

_Camp Half-Blood, Long Island_

_June 6th, 2129 A.D_

_Chiron's POV (3rd)_

Camp Half-Blood has been in a relative state of tranquility, well at least that's what it felt like compared to a century ago. Chiron, the camp director, has never felt more relieved by the lack of prophecies; he had enough world-ending riddles to last his immortal lifetime.

Many of the demigods has asked him to tell stories of the wars that lasted a majority of the early 2000s and he couldn't put them off any longer, no matter how much he hated reliving those memories. Each demigod that had died during those times felt as if he lost a child. Even though he's never actually had children, he often thought of the campers as his own.

He planned on telling them soon, but where should he start? The life of Luke Castellan, Annabeth Chase and Thalia Grace? Or perhaps the children would be more interested in the actual battles of the war...

A bright flash of light filled the rec room of the Big House, indicating the arrival of a god. The light died down and Chiron opened his eyes to a strange sight: Poseidon. Chiron has expected it to be Dionysus, who often visited Seymour, the living leopard head that was mounted on a wall.

Poseidon almost never came to Camp Half-Blood, the last time Chiron could remember him being here was when he had given him _Riptide_, a weapon that was meant to be passed to Perseus Jackson when he arrived.

Poseidon greeted Chiron with a simple nod and tip of his trident, "I believe you can already guess as to why I'm here." Chiron nodded in confirmation, "You don't make many visits here my lord, one starts to see a pattern."

Poseidon waved Chiron off, "Enough of the pleasantries, I am not Zeus or Hera, there is no reason to be so formal when I am asking you for a favor." Chiron felt relieved knowing the possiblility of being smitted for improperly addressing the gods was ruled out, "let's get on with it then."

"My daughter will be arriving to camp in a few days. I would like to remind you I have had very few kids throughout the millennia, and daughters are even rarer. She is still young and I would like some assurance she makes it to camp safely - as you know, Zeus doesn't like direct interference."

Chiron nodded in confirmation, he understood Poseidon's worries, the last child he had arrived at camp chased by the Minotaur and half dead, "would like me to _'find' _a weapon for this child?"

Poseidon gave Chiron a smile and pulled a pen out of his pocket, "Yes, I believe this was collecting dust in some corner of your office." Chiron took the pen and tucked it in his shirt pocket. Poseidon gave Chiron his thanks and flashed away, leaving no evidence of a meeting between the two.

Chiron smiled to himself, he knew where he should start the story.

———

_Kluane National Park, Canada_

_June 7th, 2129 A.D_

_Percy's POV (3rd)_

Percy Jackson had never known true peace, but he was sure this was about as close he'll get. He often stayed in Canada, which was generally away from the influence of the gods, but was still close enough he could talk to his father. Every couple decades or so Percy would run into The Hunt and chat with them for a couple days; the hunters always welcomed him with open arms and once in a blue moon, Artemis would too.

The smell of fresh pine filled Perseus' nose as he gazed upon the iced capped mountains and seemingly endless rows of trees. Percy often found himself freezing time so he could capture the beauty of the forest. Percy had gone back to wearing his camouflage hunting gear, which felt much more comfortable compared to the armor he always used to wear.

Everything was going perfectly fine until he heard the sound of winged sandals flying his way. Zoë had picked up on Percy's foul attitude towards the gods and started growling into the air. "What do you want Hermes?"

Hermes landed next to Percy, retaining his cheerful attitude, "Hey Perce, I got a letter for you. Uncle P couldn't find you, so he set Apollo and I on the task, he said that we were the least likely you'd kill - nice place you've found here by the way." Percy just nodded and took the letter from his hand, "Thanks Hermes, any idea what it's about?"

Hermes started flying up in the air again, "Nope, I just deliver the letters, got a lot of deliveries I need to make. See ya - oh shut up you two. Fine. Percy, George and Martha say hi." Percy indifferently acknowledged Hermes' two snakes and went back to opening his letter. Percy read the letter over and over again, not a hundred percent sure he was reading it right. Finally, he had something to look forward to, "Come on Zoë, we're going to New York."

———

_Long Island, New York_

_June 14th, 2129 A.D_

_Sofia's POV (3rd)_

Sofia didn't know what was chasing her, just that her mommy told her to run, to run up the hill. Rain poured down on what should be a hot, summer day, thunder striking every couple seconds. Sofia didn't know what was going on, she had just been celebrating her 8th birthday a week ago, now she had been on the run for the past few days with her mom, some monster-thing chasing them.

She heard a very angry 'moo' from a ways away, but it sounded like closer than it was last time. The pounding of hooves neared and Sofia's mom picked her up and started sprinting, Sofia looked over her mom's shoulder and couldn't believe what she was seeing; it was a cow walking on two feet! A really strong cow.

The cow smelled the air and looked at Sofia and her mother, the thing started to charge and her mother threw Sofia ahead, removing her from harms way. "Run Sofia, run up the hill and don't stop!"

She listened to her mother without question and started sprinting as fast as her little legs could carry her. Sofia made it over the hill just in time to avoid the hundreds of lightning bolts that fell down from the sky. Sofia heard nothing from the other side of the hill, but she didn't stop running, she didn't stop to check if her mother was still alive, she ran until she collapsed on the porch of a big blue house.

———

_Camp Half-Blood, New York_

_10:32 AM, June 15th, 2129 A.D_

_Chiron's POV (3rd)_

Chiron watched over Poseidon's newest daughter, who would undoubtedly be claimed by the end of the day, Chiron didn't believe Poseidon would want his eight year daughter - one of his few daughters throughout history - to be sharing a room with a bunch of children of Hermes.

Chiron got a better look at the girl, she had most of the features obtained by daughter of Poseidon. The wavy, raven black hair and pristine facial features. Chiron had little doubt that behind her closed eyelids were a pair of mesmerizing sea green eyes.

Chiron noticed the child began to stir in her sleep and prepared himself for the worst, demigods that are brought into camp this young are usually wrought with horrible memories and experiences.

———

_6:34 PM, June 15th, 2129 A.D_

_Chiron's POV (3rd)_

It was time for dinner at Camp Half-Blood and Chiron was sitting the head table with young Sofia at his side; he is trying to ease her into the life of a demigod and kept her away from the rest of the campers who might try and pick on her, the last thing Chiron needed was an angry sea god kicking down his door.

As Chiron announced the arrival of Sofia, a sea green trident emblazoned above her head, "All hail Sofia Beech, daughter of Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses, Lord of the Sea."

Later that dinner, he announced in celebration of a child of Poseidon entering the camp, he would be telling the story of Poseidon's last child, the greatest demigod to walk to Earth: Percy Jackson.

———

_10:17 PM, June 24th, 2129 AD_

_3rd POV_

_"- _after the award ceremony, Perseus Jackson left Olympus, never to be seen again." Chiron concluded his week of stories with what had been named 'The Third War' after he had told both of the second Titan and Giant wars. One of the more pompous children of Ares, Bruce Walker, had doubts of the credibility of the story, "There's no way a demigod son of _Poseidon_ could do all of that!"

Thunder rumbled from above, indicating that the gods were listening, "Bruce, please keep your thoughts to yourself, Poseidon is... protective when it come to his son." Bruce wisely kept his mouth shut, Poseidon wasn't an enemy you wanted to have. Chiron dismissed all the demigods, curfew had passed long ago.

Sofia walked back to Cabin 3 with a smile on her face, she always loved learning about Percy, it felt nice to know she had an older brother somewhere out there. While she was walking, she found Bruce and a couple of his thugs waiting by her cabin, "Lookie here guys, it's the next Percy Jackson."

Sofia just rolled her eyes, children of Ares weren't the biggest fan of Percy Jackson when they found out he beat their dad up - multiple times. "Bruce can you move away from my door?"

"Why don't you make us, hero, use your powers and create a tornado and blow us all away." They all started laughing and Sofia grew angry, she pulled her pen from her pocket and uncapped it, revealing _Tempest_, a two foot long, celestial bronze short sword. At the display, the Ares kids started laughing even harder and unsheathed their own swords.

Sofia suddenly felt less brave, there were four of them and she was only eight. Sofia started to back up, but nearly tripped on someone behind her. Sofia looked up to a large man wearing black armor. A black helmet and visor blocked anyone from reading his expression, but the aura the man was giving off said it all: move and die.

To Sofia, the aura the man gave off seemed barely contained and it still felt way more powerful than the wine dude's who visited yesterday. "I believe she said to move out of her way."

Sofia scrambled behind the large man's leg, holding her weapon out in case anything got ugly. Bruce foolishly believed they could take the man, they did have the higher numbers, "And what are you going to do about it?"

The man gently nudged Sofia away and pulled a scythe off his back, "Do you want those to be your last words?" The man slammed the scythe into the ground and the earth started shaking under his power, the cabins were decimated and began to fall apart.

At the display of power, Bruce and his thugs all ran away in fear. The man looked at the destroyed camp and twirled his scythe counter-clockwise. To Sofia's amazement, all the buildings began repairing themselves; soon enough, you weren't even able to tell that the entire camp was nearly destroyed. Sofia looked up to the man in black armor, "Who are you?"

The many sheathed his scythe and slowly took off his helmet, revealing an identical pair of sea green eyes, "My name is Percy Jackson, and I'm guessing you're my little sister."

Percy looked up at the sky and saw storm clouds and thunder flying over them, "Looks like Dad found out about those kids that threatened you," Percy chuckled to himself, "Apollo is going to be busy."

Percy transformed his armor into his clothes and held his arms out, offering to pick up Sofia, "C'mon kiddo, let's get you inside. If you want, I'll help you get washed up and then, I have a few stories I could tell you before you get to bed." Sofia happily obliged and jumped into Percy's arms, happy to have an older brother who cared for her. Percy's heart melted as he carried her, he promised himself that he wouldn't allow anything or _anyone _to hurt her.

After Percy made sure Sofia was asleep, he left Zoë on guard outside the cabin and sneaked out. He transformed his clothes back into his armor and headed off towards the beach. Percy walked into the water and dissapeared, he had some buisiness on Olympus he needed to take care of.

———

_The Next Day_

Imagine Chiron's surprise when he went to wake Sofia up and found her already awake and dressed, Percy Jackson sitting happily on a bed as she showed off an outfit he had never seen before. "Wha- what?"

Percy turned towards the old centaur, "Hey Chiron, long time no see." Percy always liked Chiron, the wise trainer of heroes was a father figure to many demigods around camp. Chiron was absolutely confused, Percy Jackson, who had not been seen by anyone other than his father and occasionally The Hunt for over a century, just appeared in his old cabin, "What are you doing here?"

Percy looked at him as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, "I'm seeing my new baby sister, isn't that right Sofie?" Sofia nodded and started bouncing around, "Yeah! Look Chiron, Percy got me new clothes." She showed off her new olive green jacket, blue jeans, white t-shirt and pair of similarly green converse. Percy was wearing an exact replica of her outfit, minus the jacket.

"Well - yes, they're very nice Sofia. I'll see you two at breakfast." Chiron walked away, still hopelessly confused. Percy and Sofia walked outside and Percy let out a whistle, "Do you like dogs, Sofia?" Zoë sprinted to Percy's location at the sound of his whistle and Sofia started jumping around like Leo after eating skittles and fonzies - Percy recalled Leo calling the combination skonzies. "Woah! You have a wolf? Can I pet it? Is it a he or she? What's its name?"

Percy answered all of her questions and showed Sofia her favorite spots to be scratched; which was basically everywhere besides her legs. When they were done, Percy sent Zoë off to the forest, he doubted Chiron would appreciate him bringing a five foot tall wolf into the dining pavilion.

Percy arrived in the dining pavilion with Sofia in his arms and realized he was late, Chiron had already started reading announcements from his little notecard, "Children of Ares can expect less communication with their godly parent, he was injured last night in a greek fire incident."

Chiron set the card down and continued, "In other news, let's give a warm welcome to Perseus Jackson," Percy received a lot of applause as he made his way down to the Poseidon table. Chiron waited until the applause died down until he continued, "He will be staying here with his sister, Sofia Beech, until noted otherwise, please stay out of his way - I believe I speak for everyone when I say we don't want the entire camp destroyed by an earthquake." Chiron tried form the sentence in a joking matter, but it was about as far as a joke as you could get, he prayed the demigods got the hint.

Percy set Sofia down on the bench and sat down next to her, making sure to glare at any child of Ares who would meet his eyes as he sat. Percy shared with Sofia how to get the magical plates to summon blue food, claiming it would taste better. Percy spent the rest of the day with Sofia, going through all of her daily activities and laughing the whole time.

At the end of the day, before Sofia fell asleep, she asked him an oddly serious question, "Percy? Would you ever fight in the wars again?

Percy looked at Sofia's soft, innocent eyes and immediately knew his answer, "For you? Yes."

**Well there's the epilogue guys, someone had requested me writing a little spinoff with Percy interacting w future children of Poseidon a while back and I kinda have been wanting to do it since. My new book is out and I'm actively writing it.**

**POST STORY AN: So I said I wasn't going to tell you guys but you clearly haven't gotten it based on your reviews (someone was close but not quite). Nēram is Time. Literally. He is not a god or goddess or primordial, he is the literal manifestation of time. I had hinted it in one of Nēram's dialogs when he first fell into Tartarus.**


	32. Bonus

**So I really was not planning on doing this but you guys really wanted a part 2. You can thank hiraibella for the chapter - she inspired me to continue this. Enjoy!**

**Btw, I have a new book out called 'The Eclipse.' Personally I think that book is much better written than this one - I even have a beta.**

_Camp Half-Blood, Long Island_

_June 25th, 2129 AD_

_12:43 AM_

Sofia had gone asleep a long time ago and without anything to do, Percy sat at the campfire, waiting for the sun to rise. He would join her in rest, but he hasn't been able to sleep for quite a few years now, his body doesn't require it anymore - he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

As of right now, he decided it was a good thing. He enjoyed watching the flames flicker through the air, bringing warmth - or what he guessed was warmth - to the area around him. It's the little things like this that Perseus had started bringing his attention to.

Percy felt the log shift and looked to his right, he wasn't surprised when he saw the goddess of the Hearth sitting next to him.

"Hello Perseus, how has life treated you these past years?"

Percy smiled at the immortal in seven year old form. "It's been better. I think I actually have something to look forward to now."

As much as he hates the gods, he could never be mad at Hestia. She has never done him wrong, and never tried to abuse his power. If she wasn't already on the Olympian Council, he would've forced them to allow her a seat - she deserved it more than anyone."

Hestia smiled right back at the demigod. "I heard you have a new sister now. I suppose the injuries Ares acquired and the ruckus on Olympus last night had no correlation to that?"

He chuckled. "Oh they were definitely related. Ares got what he had coming, he's just lucky his kids weren't punished too."

Hestia gave him a wide eye look and Percy smirked. "My mom didn't raise a liar; you asked, I answered."

Hestia shrugged. "I suppose that is fair. How is your sister anyways, does she know what happened to her mother?

Percy gave a shrug of his own. "She hasn't asked - something I'm grateful for. I believe the kid is so caught up with her new life she doesn't have time to think about it."

Hestia nodded in agreement. "Tell me about the child, what is she like?"

A wide grin spread across his face. "She is, without a doubt, the cutest thing I have ever seen. She's always bouncing around and laughing, making snide remarks, not afraid to challenge anyone."

Hestia chuckled. "Reminds me of someone, hmm?"

Percy got a far away look in his eyes, "Once upon a time, maybe. Now? I'm not so sure. She's so innocent. Innocence left me when I was twelve."

"You do know that gods would go to her for quests and such - like they did to you not so long ago. The prospect of glory is too tempting to some, they would even go as far to ask a child to bring that glory to them."

Percy's eyes turned a dark shade of gold, "Let them try, it'll be the last thing they do."

The sky started rumbling and storm clouds moved across all of New York, striking thunder and pouring rain all across the state - a testament to Perseus' power.

In retrospect, Hestia should've seen that coming. She was just grateful the camp had magical boundaries to keep the downpour of rain out.

She and Perseus talked into the night, all the way until sunrise. Perseus was grateful for the company, he's usually alone during these late nights - Zoë is always sleeping.

Now, he walked to Cabin Three with a smile on his face as he went to go wake Sofia. The child had brought light into his life, bringing a side out of him he thought was lost a long time ago.

He walked into the cabin to find Sofia fast asleep, using Zoë as a pillow, soft snores coming out her mouth. He softly shook her awake and smiled as her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey sleepy head, you ready to get up?"

He got a mumbled "yeah" in response and went to open the chest at the front of her bed.

"What do you want to wear today Sofie?"

By now, Sofia was half-awake and joined Percy at his side, "I want to wear the blue one."

Percy smiled and looked the outfit over: a blue hoodie, black leggings and white running shoes. It was about as comfortable as you could get. He gave her the clothes and let her get changed in the bathroom.

As she changed, he shook Zoë awake. "Come on you lazy bum, it's time to get up."

With no response, he turned to more advanced tactics. "I'll take you to the Dining Pavilion with me - there's lots of food."

Zoe's eyes snapped open at the mention of food and Percy shook his head, not ignorant to the giggles coming from the open bathroom door.

"Come on Sofie, lets go get some food, I bet you're hungry."

He picked Sofia up and walked to the pavilion, Zoë hot on his heels. When he arrived, he realized that he was early and looked around at the empty area, it's only occupant being Chiron.

He waved to the centaur and sat down with Sofia at the Poseidon table. Soon enough, a wind nymph brought him two magical plates, cups, and a bone for Zoë - where they got the bone, he doesn't have the slightest notion.

He summoned blue waffles, coffee, blue eggs and a plethora of bacon for Zoë. Sofia tried to copy his meal, but he didn't let her. "Coffee is going to stunt your growth."

He summoned orange juice in her cup and tossed a few strips of bacon for his wolf before he started eating. The food still doesn't taste like anything, but he would feel bad if Sofia ate alone.

As Percy dug into his food, he felt a weight press down onto his right arm. He looked over and saw Sofia out cold, gripping his arm tightly and using it as a pillow of sorts.

He should've seen this coming, it wasn't likely an eight year old would be used to waking up at the crack of dawn. He didn't complain either way.

As she slept, he picked at his food and pondered what he would do today. He could take her to Manhattan and let her run rampant there, eventually going up to Olympus. Or he could take her to see her father in Atlantis - picking fights with mermen seemed to be the type of thing she'd like.

As demigods made their way into the pavilion, the noise they made followed, bringing Sofia out of her sleep.

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and started picking at her now cold waffles. Suddenly, a golden flash of light illuminated the area around them. When the light died down, the goddess Nike could be seen.

"Demigods! I bring a prospect of victory and battle to one among your ranks!"

Percy immediately stood up and Zoë started growling.

"Sofia Beech, daughter of Poseidon has been chosen to fight in her father's name! She will go-"

Nike was cut off by a lightning bolt hitting her, sending her flying into a pillar.

"I warned you gods. Sofia. Is. Off. Limits." With each word, he brought down another bolt of thunder upon the Goddess of Victory.

Percy was shaking with fury. Even countless years later, he still remembered the pain he had gone through during those quests. The sleepless nights and starving mornings. The wounds that covered his body from head to toe.

The only thing keeping his powers in check is the looming threat of harming Sofia by accident.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out Riptide. He uncapped the legendary Celestial Bronze blade and went to finish off Nike when she flashed away.

He looked up to the heavens and his eyes resembled the hundreds of bolts of lightning dancing across the dark sky. "This is my final warning."

Percy didn't feel the need to say anymore, like his father, he doesn't make empty threats.

He took a few deep breaths and went back to the table where Sofia was waiting for him. The entire Dining Pavilion was deathly silent. He didn't look at her when he sat down, not wanting to see what she could be thinking of him after that. When he sat, chatter filled the area, likely talking about what had happened.

Suddenly, he felt two little arms wrapped around his waist. "It's okay Percy, everyone gets angry sometimes."

Percy took in a deep sigh of relief. "Come on Sofie, I want to take you to the city. Maybe you can see Olympus while we're there."

Sofia pulled away and her eyes lit up, the past events already forgotten. "Whoa! We can see Olympus? Is dad going to be there? Who made Olympus? What do they do up there?"

Percy was sure she would've asked questions all day until he cut her off. "Yes Sofia we can go to Olympus. In fact, we can go there right now."

Percy got up and motioned for Sofia to follow. He would be going to Manhattan, that was a guarantee, but he wanted Chiron's permission first. He could leave whether the centaur liked it or not, but he still held a large amount of respect for the trainer of heroes.

Chiron noticed them approaching their table. "Let me guess, you tempted young Sofia here with seeing Olympus and now you want my permission."

Perseus stared at Chiron with his mouth agape. "What- how?"

Chiron laughed at him. "Please Perseus, you were once my student - I know all of your old habits. Yes you may go, I have to talk to the campers anyways."

Percy smiled at Chiron, it's nice to know that some things never change.

"Come on Sofie, we're going to New York."

**-0-**

_Manhattan, New York_

_June 25th, 2129 AD_

_6:18 PM_

After a day of exploring Manhattan, Percy walked into the Empire State Building, hand in hand with Sofia. He was grateful that they shared many of the same looks from their father, it stops any mortals from questioning why a twenty-two year old was holding hands with a child.

He walked up to Alexander at the front desk. "I'm making a trip upstairs."

Alex handed him a keycard. "You know the drill, sir. If I may ask, business or casual?"

"For me, purely business."

He noticed Sofia looking around the room. "Another child of your father?"

Percy nodded and Alex started laughing. "May the gods have mercy on this world - I thought one of you was bad."

Percy laughed with him and headed towards the elevator, he was glad they finally got rid of the old desk man.

He decided to give Sofia a warning beforehand. "I tried to change the music in here, but Apollo seems to be really keen on singing all of these songs - I'm not entirely sure of what the new playlist consists of."

He inserted the keycard and pressed the button to the six-hundredth floor. As the doors closed, the horrid music started playing. It was Apollo rapping to some new age songs that Percy couldn't identify, but judging from Sofia's reaction, it wasn't good.

"Isn't he the God of Music, why is he so bad?"

Percy shrugged. "He's the God of Music, not the God of Singing. I don't think he knows the difference."

Finally, the elevator doors opened, and Sofia let out a gasp of awe. "Whoa! This is Olympus? Why is everything so white?"

"The Greeks really liked their marble. Come on, there's someone waiting for you."

Percy took her to the throne room, answering her questions the whole way there.

They reached the giant set of double doors and Percy saw a man waiting for them outside, wearing his usual attire of Hawaiian shirts and fishing shorts.

Poseidon greeted him warmly. "Hello Perseus, you haven't called in quite some time. How is everything?"

Percy gave his father a hug. "I've been better. I believe someone is eager to talk to you."

Poseidon's eyes twinkled. "Ah yes." He got on his knee and looked to Sofia. "How are you little one?"

Sofia looked indecisive for a second before she tried to crush Poseidon in a hug, making the Lord of the Seas chuckle.

"Come with me Sofia." He started walking with her away from the throne room. "I believe Perseus has a meeting he needs to attend."

Percy waved Sofia goodbye and waited until they were out of eyesight before he summoned his armour. He had warned the gods, that was strike two.

He felt the familiar weight of the black metal shroud his body and, with scythe in hand, he opened the throne room doors.

"Ah Poseidon, now that you're back-" Zeus froze when he saw that it wasn't Poseidon who was rejoining their meeting.

Percy walked around the room in silence, staring each god and goddess down. Occasionally, he would slam his scythe into the ground, making Ares flinch.

He stopped in the center and pointed his weapon at each person seated. "I warned all of you. Sofia Beech was not to be bothered - her name wasn't supposed to reach any of your mouths."

Hera foolishly responded. "What's the big deal anyways? She's just a demigod."

Perseus snapped towards her, white light emitting from his body. "Did I say you could speak?"

"Don't test my anger _Hera_." He spat the name out of his mouth like it was poison. "I have _allowed_ for this council - for Mount Olympus - to exist. If I so choose, this entire city will be reduced to rubble, and every shred of the mist will be torn away."

With each word he spoke, his anger increased. "Olympus is only standing because of the demigods. You gods haven't fought a real battle since you first stormed Othrys - getting pummeled by a storm giant and having my father save you doesn't count."

He started walking around the room once more, occasionally releasing waves of his power, forcing the gods against the back of their thrones. "Your powers are exaggerated. Your egos are inflated. The very thrones you sit on were built upon lies and deceit. You. Are. Weak.

He slammed his scythe into the ground, freezing the gods where they sat. "I had slain countless creatures in the depths of Tartarus. Species more ancient than the Titans. Monster which have lived longer than your reign. Ancient beasts as tall as skyscrapers. Some of these monsters were able to fly. Some swam in the waters of the River Archeron. Others walked on land. Do you know what they all had in common?"

Percy waited for a response he knew he wouldn't get. "They all died by my hands."

"The only reason this pantheon still stands is that there are few who I still call friends." He gave a nod to the mentioned people and released them from the time spell.

Artemis, Apollo, Hermes and Hephaestus were able to move again. Hestia would've been released as well if she was in the throne room - Perseus believed she was off getting to know Sofia with his father.

"My patience is not to be tested. If any immortal so much as looks at my sister the wrong way, this mountain will fall."

For demonstration, Perseus called an earthquake that shook the throne room to its core, throwing pieces of debris everywhere. "Do I make myself clear?"

He nodded and turned around. "Meeting adjourned."

Percy walked outside and slammed the doors shut behind him. His armour melted back into his necklace and he started making his way to one of the many gardens on Olympus.

He sat down on a bench and took in the world around him; watching the leaves rustle in the wind, feeling the light fall onto him, hearing the water flow through a small stream. It immediately calmed him down. To Percy, nature all felt serene to him - nearly everything did nowadays. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by the sound of muffled footsteps.

"Hello Artemis, I assume they sent you to broker a peace. You gods never had talked to me without wanting something before."

Artemis froze in her tracks, her facade already gone. "Your instincts are correct, as usual. But that's not entirely why I'm here."

Percy sighed, they always wanted something from him. "Go on."

"I am curious. Why is it that you hate the gods so keenly, and what prevents me from joining that hatred - I certainly haven't been the nicest person."

He took a deep breath, taking in one last piece of silence before his anger could return. "The answer to your first question is simple: you're gods."

At Artemis' confused expression, he continued. "You were born strong. You never had to practice your abilities or learn something new. Anything you ever needed was a snap of your fingers away. You never had to suffer through starvation or poverty - wondering when your next meal will come or how you'll get it.

"You never had pressure put on you by others, pressure to be better than everyone else. You never felt anguish or agony. You never had to feel your friend dying in your arms, wanting nothing more but to save them, but knowing there was nothing you could do. To see the light leave their eyes as they took their last breath, fear being the last thing you saw in their eyes.

"You never had a sense of duty, to feel the need to give something everything you had, then give it even more. You never sacrificed anything in your life - people sacrificed for you."

Percy gave Artemis time to think what he said over, judging by the looks of it, she would need it.

"To answer your second question, I'm not entirely sure." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Perhaps I'm grateful for your blessing so long ago, it allows me to see the world in a different view. Maybe it's that you've kept Thalia alive for so long, my cousin is one of the few people I still talk to - the few who understand me. I truly don't know."

Percy gave a dry chuckle. "You know, before I had met Sofia, I had nearly made a deal of my own. It was with an old friend of mine, someone I had met down in Tartarus. He pitied me, he knew what I went through - what I still go through. He offered me a way out of this life, to finally be able to lay down my weapons and rest.

He ignored the concerned look he got from Artemis. "As you can see, I've held off on the deal, but now, I don't know if I can make it. I look into Sofia's eyes and I see life. I see happiness that is only caused by the innocence of youth. But behind that facade, I see a little girl. A little girl that wants a family; to have a father, a brother and mother. A little girl who's only family has been me. A little girl who wants to wake up and everything is just a bad dream. "

He shook his head. "I can't leave her alone, and quite frankly, I don't think I would want to. Without her, I wouldn't have a purpose, I would just be aimlessly wandering the world, searching for something that would never be found.

He took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is, I would like for Sofia to join the Hunters. Take her under your wing, train her so she may be able to enjoy the world as I once did."

Artemis was stunned. "But… but you hate the gods. Why would you leave your little sister in the care of me?"

Percy slowly shook his head and looked to the golden sunset, he hadn't realized how much time had passed. "I won't always be there for her. She'll need people besides me. At one point, everyone's time is up - even mine. May that day come peacefully."

With each passing word, Artemis became more confused. "Forgive me if I am wrong, but I don't believe anything is able to kill you. You can live forever."

"Live forever," he mused, "what a curse that would be. Time is like chocolate, small amounts can be enjoyed, but if you have too much you'll get sick. I have lived longer than your entire council combined - and that's lowballing it. The years of solitude and loneliness that comes with age is something I would never wish upon my worst enemy."

He smiled and watched the world freeze around him as the sky was painted a million different colors. "Do me one thing Artemis: if she asks, take her into your hunt. Let her be surrounded with people she can call family. Don't leave her a hero's fate. That is my burden, and mine alone.

Artemis looked around in awe at the world around her. Trees were frozen. Birds had been suspended mid air. Everything was still.

"This is how I see the world."

Artemis turned away from the world and saw Percy walking towards a bouncing Sofia and chuckling Sea God.

When Sofia saw him, she immediately sprinted and hopped into his arms, animatedly chatting about what she and her father had done.

Artemis stared at the trio as they walked away, having been left with more questions than answers.

**Well that was a doozie, I hope you guys enjoyed it. The support I had on this story was amazing, I don't know where I would be without y'all.**

**Like I said before, check out my new story. I publish every weekend.**

**I'm not going to answer any questions or reply to any reviews on this one. I know what I said in my last chapter made a lot of people try to prove me wrong and I get what y'all are saying, but I also know what I said - I just worded it wrong. Y'all can reread the book for the answer, I'm not going to fight with my readers lol.**


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